The Legend of Kenkou
by RemyO
Summary: Fourteen years ago Commander Yamamoto took on an apprentice once he heard of his heroics in New York City. Watch his abilities unfold as learns from the best the Soul Society has to offer. Light HinamoriOC. Editing of all early chapters completed.
1. One in 6 Billion

One day, a five year old boy was playing stickball with friends in New York City when there was a huge thud on the ground. Problem was: there was nothing around to fall that hard—at least anything that could be seen. The boy looked behind him and saw a 300 foot long centipede shaped creature in the way you saw heat coming off of something in the distance.

He then blinked and rubbed his eyes and saw the giant monster. It had an entire blood red body that had the texture of the inside of a sewer pipe. The long body came to a head that was covered with a pure white, bone textured mask. The creature also had two sharp legs on each section of its long body. Its tail also had a spike that protruded like a bee's stinger, only it was four feet long.

This monster then roared and looked down at a red haired warrior wearing a black Japanese kimono with white underlining, wearing a pair of black sunglasses on his forehead, whilst holding a katana. "You think you're tough, you stupid Hollow?!" the warrior exclaimed.

He then jumped 100 feet in the air and was going to come down with a vertical slash through the Hollow's mask, but it reacted quickly and whipped its tail around and smacked the warrior into a ten story building. An incredibly loud crash was made as he slammed five feet deep into a steel girder that supported the building. Concrete rubble then fell over the warrior as he stayed in the bent girder.

"That all you got?" he inquired with a smirk as he fell eight stories down onto a sidewalk, where he made a crater about two feet deep. The hollow then picked up the red haired warrior and proceeded to constrict him using its body like a snake's. He screamed in agony as the monster clenched tighter and tighter.

"That's it! Howl! Zabimaru!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. Though his sword was constrained against his body, it emanated a bright red light and sliced off at least half of the beast's body. The blade changed from a simple katana to a giant, black sword with a shiny, silver blade which had one fang protruding from each section that the blade separated from.

The hollow screamed in agony as half of its body crashed to the ground. Almost as fast as the hollow's body fell, the warrior himself fell unconsciously and he laid there limp and lifeless as the hollow dove in for the kill.

The young boy who witnessed all of this knew that the brave warrior's last moments of life were near, unless he did something to protect him. The boy darted in front of the fallen fighter and yelled out, "ENOUGH!!"

The boy was then surrounded by white energy that emanated from the ground and circled him in a cylinder like spinning cyclone. The hollow backed off and looked at this tiny toddler in anger. "What is this boy?! Why couldn't I sense such power from him before?!" it said in disgust without moving its mouth, "Where did he come from!!"

The bright, white energy continued to pool around the child until he created enough wind to blow around any amount of debris that was up to 30 pounds. The hollow tried to dive towards the child, but the energy that surrounded him was too great to penetrate with anything short of a cruise missile, for he was deflected at each attempt of attacking the child.

The red haired warrior looked on in awe of how much power was just pouring out of this five year old boy. _There's just no way any human could display this much power, could there?_, he thought. The child's eyes then began to glow black and the energy that surrounded him turned from white to black while his muscle mass began to increase.

The child then jumped in the air to meet the monster's head at about 50 feet and landed a right-roundhouse kick square in the forehead so hard, a piece of its mask broke off. Part of a human's face revealed itself after it was broken off, but it didn't faze the child a bit. The kid then slammed down with his left fist and shoved the Hollow six feet under.

The Hollow was in a daze and couldn't believe what was happening. It then looked up and saw the child bring together a giant amount of energy into his hands on the left side of his body. The child then cried out, "KA! ME! HA! ME!!..." And on that last syllable, the energy turned again from white, to black. He then held out his hands like an open clamshell and screamed, "HAAAAA!!"The monster tried to lunge at the boy, thinking the blast wouldn't harm him, but it completely obliterated not only the monster, but the buildings surrounding it.

When the smoke cleared, the child was still in the air, exhausted, and panting for air while still having his arms outstretched from launching the blast that nearly decimated a city block. The red haired swordsman looked up with a dropped jaw in amazement of how well this five year old could defeat such a strong Hollow. The boy's eyes returned to normal, he passed out in mid-air, thus he began to fall.

Noticing this quickly, the swordsman jumped up, sheathed his katana, and jumped up to catch him. After catching the child, he laid him down on a piece of raised rock so the head would be elevated. "What happened?" the child inquired wearily as he came to.

"You did good, kid. You did good. Now calm down and wait for your parents. You'll be hearing from my commander very soon about this little battle. And if you want to come and look for me, my name is Renji—Renji Abarai."

"Thank you, Mr. Abarai….." The child passed out and Renji opened some Japanese sliding doors to a bright lighted tunnel in the middle of the tattered apartment complex.

"Take care, kid", he said as he darted through the doors.

Thirty minutes later, all of the children came back with their parents to see 'the boy that flew and threw light'. Everyone circled around the unconscious child in the middle of the tattered battlefield. "I swear he was flying, mommy!" one child exclaimed.

"He even did this thing from Dragonball Z! Goku's signature move!" one teenager proclaimed. All the parents stood in disbelief of how much damage was done in such a short amount of time. Most etched a score towards demolitions, while others claimed something outrageous like aliens attacking New York City.

His mother ran from beyond the crowd, crying as she ran. "Where's my baby?! Where is he!" she wailed. The sobbing mother pushed her way through the crowd to see her son unconscious and thoroughly exhausted. "Wake up, baby. Please, wake up."

As if her words were magic, the boy opened his eyes and said, "Mommy? Is that you?"

"Oh yes, I'm here Kenkou, I'm here." Kenkou then fell asleep and his mom walked off with him in her arms towards their apartment building, which faced opposite of the one that just had its facing decimated.


	2. Wake Up

Instead of reentering the Seireitei as all Soul Reapers are supposed to, Renji decided to take a long walk back and went through the sixth Rukongai district for a leisurely walk. The Rukongai are different sections of the Soul Society, or heaven as humans call it, where passed souls live out eternity, unless recycled. As always, the weather was pleasant and there were barely any clouds in the sky. The temperature was warm enough that you didn't have to wear a jacket, but it wasn't so hot that you were sweating from just standing still. As Renji walked, he looked up and thought about what, if anything, Commander Yamamoto had in store for the child that saved him from being eaten by a Hollow. All of the passed on souls were living peacefully and a few acknowledged Renji and bowed in thanks for protecting their souls. The first ten Rukongai districts directly circled the Seireitei, so after walking through the sixth Rukongai, he reached the great wall barrier of Seireitei. There are guardians at each entrance to the Seireitei: North, South, East, and West. Renji ended up at the North entrance and met up with a giant of a guardian.

The guardian bellowed, "Who would like entrance into Seireitei?"

"I'm down here, Samui, now let me in before I have to break you," said Renji.

"I'm sorry, sir. I'll open the gate for you. But, why are you coming from the Rukongai? Weren't you on a mission in the world of the living?"

"I was, but I decided to take the long way. I needed to clear my head."

"Very good, sir. Here it goes," he said as he lifted the gate with relative ease.

"Thank you, Chill," he said as he entered the Seireitei.

Renji ran towards the base of the Sixth Squad, where he was a vice-captain, so he could tell his captain Byakuya Kuchiki about what happened in the real world. Once he arrived, he got on his knees and bowed before his captain. "Sir, I'm back from the real world and I have some news that may benefit all of the Court Guard Protection Squads," he said while bowing.

"Speak, Renji, and be at ease. I would love for you to regale me of your battles," Byakuya said calmly while completing some paper work.

"Well, sir, I was only in one battle. And I wasn't even part for most if it…" Renji said hesitantly.

"Why is that, Renji?" Byakuya kept his calm.

"Well, there was a human child that saw me unconscious on the battle field and he kind of came to my rescue. He completely annihilated the Hollow I faced, but I don't think he has any recollection of it. He turned from innocent child to battle hardened warrior instantaneously."

"You failed, Renji. The Hollow may be destroyed, but you failed. You are supposed to be my vice-captain and have strength beyond any of my seated officers." Though Byakuya said it with a calm tone and a straight face away from Renji, it made those words sting that much more to Renji's ego.

"In my defense, sir, I was only at a fifth of my full potential and this Hollow was probably twice as strong as I was."

"No excuse, Renji. You will now go a month without a mission, but you will train here in the Seireitei with the limiter on so you can become that much stronger." Byakuya got up from his table of paper work and faced Renji at the door of his office. "Rise, Renji. Though you failed, you will learn from this failure and not wallow in it."

Renji then rose to his feet and shook the hand of his captain, thanked him for his words of wisdom and scorn, and asked, "This child I told you about has great potential. When he was in that…mode, he felt maybe twice as strong as Commander Yamamoto. Should I tell the commander so maybe he could train with him and join our ranks?"

"How old is this boy?" Byakuya inquired.

"He's about five years old, if I can gauge human ages correctly."

"Hm. Yes, tell Commander Yamamoto. This child should prove to be an asset to all Soul Reapers."

"Yes, sir." Renji bowed and ran off to Yamamoto's building to bring the news of a new recruit, albeit human.

Upon arriving, Renji was greeted by Rukia Kuchiki, sister to his captain and an unseated officer of the 13th Court Guard Protection Squad. "Rukia? What're you doing here?" Renji said in disbelief.

"There was an unseated officer's meeting with Commander Yamamoto. He just let us know that if anyone wants to vie for a seated position that we can and we have to take it up with our Captains and himself before any trials can begin. Why are you here?"

"Well, I just returned from the world of the living and I have some news I need to pass on to the Commander. I found this human kid that saved my life and I believe him to be stronger that Commander Yamamoto himself. I don't know how the Commander will deal with this child, but I hope he joins our ranks. His power should not go untapped," Renji said with a grin.

"Wow, Renji. You have all the luck. You may be credited with finding the next Commander if Yamamoto decides to step down and this kid is what you say he is. Good luck. I'm going back to my Squad's headquarters to talk to Ukitake."

"Thanks, Rukia. See you later." Renji walked off towards Yamamoto's meeting room where he was walking away towards his office. "Commander! I have some news from the real world that I believe you should hear," Renji exclaimed.

"You come to your Commander's quarters without any announcement and you don't even bow before him? Who taught you your manners, Renji Abarai?" Yamamoto turned around and gave Renji a piercing look almost as if he looked through Renji's soul. Renji then dropped to his knees and bowed before Yamamoto and apologized.

"Many apologies, Commander Yamamoto! It will not happen again!"

"I sure hope it doesn't. Now, rise Renji. I can sense you've been scolded already today. What's on your mind?" Yamamoto walked to his office and sat down at his desk and Renji followed and sat in a chair facing Yamamoto's desk.

"Well, there was this human I met today while I was facing a Hollow I was sent to purify. He's about five years old and lives in New York City in the United States. His power must be at least twice than yours, sir."

"What're you saying, Renji? That he should be trained as a Soul Reaper to benefit us all," Yamamoto inquired. "Yes, sir. But his strength is too great for me comprehend so I don't believe I am qualified to train him. If it's possible, could you train him?"

"How old is this boy?" "I would say five years old. You'd think that someone with his power would've been traced by now by one of us, but I don't believe he's used his spirit energy until today, sir. The Technology and Dispatch center should have my last entrance coordinates. His energy was all over that apartment complex, but I could feel it trace to him. You should be able to find him, sir."

"It should be about five in the afternoon in New York City right now, so I'll go at one in the morning and bring him with me. If you're right about him Renji, I'll see that you will become captain of Squad Six after Byakuya Kuchiki."

"Thank you, sir." At that, Renji walked out and headed back to the head quarters of Squad Six. _This child may be the one to replace me_, Yamamoto thought.

Kenkou was brought into his apartment in his mother's arms. She laid him down on the couch so he could rest. She poured a cool glass of water in one of his old sippy cups so he couldn't spill it on himself while he laid face up on the couch. "What happened, Mommy? Why is Keni on the couch," a boy crawled out from his bedroom and asked his mother.

"Something strange happened outside, Jiriki, and now your brother is tired. I'll put the both of you to a nap real soon; now go back to your room." Jiriki nodded in reply and sauntered back to his room. Kenkou reached for the cup and began to drink from it. "So, what happened, Ken," the mother inquired.

"I have no idea, Mommy. I just saw this man with red hair being hurt by this monster, then I just remember waking up in his arms, then you came and got me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Mommy, I'm sure. I can't explain it, but I don't think it was me that did all those horrible things."

"No one's blaming you for the front of that building to be missing. Now, you're gonna take a nap and you'll be fine for dinner, ok?"

"Yes, mommy." Kenkou drifted to his bed and laid his head on his pillow and closed his eyes. Almost as soon as he laid his head down on his pillow, he went to sleep and began to dream…

**Two figures stood in the middle of a grassy plain talking. "Should we tell him about us yet," the one man in a white gi asked.**

"**No, not yet. He hasn't truly awakened yet. Give him time," the man in the black gi said.**

"**But I can sense that he'll need us very soon!"**

"**Leave him, weakling. He needs to learn his own strength before he can reach for ours."**

"**Fine, have it your way…" Kenkou's eyes began to open and saw the two figures in the meadow, but ****HH****they closed almost immediately and he heard, "Awaken."**

Kenkou's eyes opened and it was night. His brother was sleeping and a strange, old man wearing the same kimono as the warrior from earlier that day, but he had a white overcoat and a wood cane that looked strangely like Master Roshi's from Dragonball Z on TV. "Awaken, child. I must speak with you," he bellowed loud enough to wake the entire neighborhood, but Kenkou was the only one who woke up.

"What is it? Who are you?" he whispered.

"Come here, son. You're coming with me to the Soul Society." Being that the old man was stern, yet gentle, Kenkou got to his feet and moseyed on towards him, but he was halted. "Wait, young one." The old man then took his cane off the ground, pointed the leanest part towards Kenkou, and shoved that end through Kenkou's head and his spirit, which was a copy of his body plus a chain connected to his chest. That thrust separated Kenkou's soul from his body.

"What was that for," Kenkou screamed in a whisper. His breath got heavy and he dropped to the ground from the loss of air. "What's…all….this…" he panted.

"You'll get over it." At that, the old man took his cane and slammed it down on the chain that connected to Kenkou's body, breaking a link into tiny pieces. Kenkou's jaw dropped in disbelief and he grabbed his chest in pain. "AAAHHHH!" he screamed in agony.

"Let's go," said the old man as he picked up Kenkou, jumped out the window, and walked in mid-air towards the same Japanese sliding doors that Renji walked through after Kenkou's battle with the Hollow.

* * *

**_Samui is Japanese for cold, so 'Chill' is the guardian's nickname._**


	3. Guess What? You're a Soul Reaper

The old man and Kenkou reached the Soul Society with Kenkou under his right arm, asleep. The area they arrived in was barren and desolate. The only thing that inhabited such an area were petrified trees that provided a border between the stairs that lined the cliff side and the open area where Kenkou and the old man landed at. There was also a giant spear reaching high into the sky, and a traditional Japanese temple gate that stood just as high as the erect spear. This was Sougyoku Hill. "Wake up, young one. Your training began five minutes ago," the old man said sternly as he threw Kenkou to the ground.

Kenkou then woke up, startled a bit. "Where am I? And why have you brought me here?"

"You are in the Soul Society: the place where departed souls end up if they aren't full of evil. In your world, this would be known as heaven," the old man said in an informative tone.

"And we all have this chain to our chest?" Kenkou questioned.

"No. All souls that are purified have their Chain of Fates completely obliterated from their chest. The base does not remain. Because I brought you here without purification, you still have the base stuck in your chest, and now the training begins." At that, the broken chain turned into a two-headed monster and started eating the chain after it.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" the boy screamed in fear.

"Your chain of fate is eating itself until there is a hole in your chest and you become a Hollow."

"Why do you want me to be a Hollow?! I don't want to be a monster!" Kenkou said as he began to cry.

"If this puts you through more pain that you ever imagined, I apologize." The old man tapped his cane on the ground and a deep hole appeared with Kenkou falling instantaneously to the bottom. The hole was about eight feet in diameter, straight down, and it dropped to eighty feet in depth.

"Hey! What's all this for?" the boy shouted up the shaft.

"This is for everyone's safety, young one. Now keep quiet and don't turn into a Hollow."

"But…." Kenkou was halted mid-sentence when his chain stopped eating itself and a hole developed in his chest. Kenkou roared in pain from losing a piece of his chest. "YAAAAAAHH!!"

Kenkou dropped to his hands and knees, grasping the ground as if it could give him life. He panted for air as the pain in his chest became tighter and tighter. Suddenly, a white, marshmallow like substance came out of his eyes, nose, and mouth to create a mask that continued to fluctuate in shape. Kenkou then found himself in his all too familiar dream realm, where two figures still stood in the middle of that grassy plain…

**"Well, well, well. Look who's come for another visit," said the evil fighter in a deep voice, wearing a navy blue gi tied with a black belt, messed up hair in a stand up ponytail, with a string of giant monk beads around his neck.**

"**Don't mess with him too much, he's going through his hollow transformation," said the 'pure' looking fighter, wearing a white gi tied with a black belt and a red head band that came to a tight knot in the back of his head while the extra material hung off the back of his head. **_**What is this place? Grassy areas like this don't exist in either New York or the Soul Society, do they?**_**, thought Kenkou.**

"**Get up, Kenkou. In order to prove your worth, you must defeat the white one. Do you think you're up to it?" the dark one questioned with a smirking grin on his face.**

"**Do I really have to hurt him?" said the white one.**

"**Yes, it's the only way he'll learn to use some of his own power before he relies on us."**

**A puzzled look came over Kenkou's face as the white fighter jumped at him to attack. A punch landed square in Kenkou's face as he was thrown back twenty feet. He proceeded to get up, wipe his face off of any liquids that trickled out and he got into a defensive stance that resembled Shotokan Karate.**

**The white one smiled and ran at Kenkou. This time, Kenkou was ready and a kick came straight to his right side, which faced forward, and he caught it and flipped his enemy into a slam into the ground. Kenkou jumped back in disbelief of how a small five year old boy could throw a grown man two feet deep into the dirt. The white warrior knew what was going on, rebounded, and jumped at Kenkou with a sweeping kick.**

**Kenkou noticed this quickly and jumped up to dodge it, but he looked up and saw the warrior appear above him as he landed a downward kick to his forehead and Kenkou was sent into the ground. "You guys aren't even playing!" Kenkou screamed in disgust.**

"**We're not trying to play, Kenkou," barked the dark fighter who just stood there, watching.**

**Kenkou got up and ran at the white warrior, throwing punch after kick, and kick after punch. The warrior kept backing up and defending and there was really nothing he could do to breach the offense of this child without exposing himself to the heavy hits that he continued to block. Kenkou then snuck in a trip, and forced the white fighter to fall backwards which allowed Kenkou the perfect opportunity to land a 13 hit combination that ended with a heel to the stomach. As the white clad warrior lay unconscious, Kenkou rushed over to the dark warrior and landed a side kick with his right foot directly at his sternum area. He slid back 20 feet and clutched his torso in agony while crouched over.**

"**You may have thwarted us this time, but I'll be sure that it won't happen again," the dark warrior snickered. Both warriors faded into black and white dust and spun around Kenkou. He looked straight up the swirling cyclone and he passed out.**

Kenkou woke up and let out an intolerable scream up towards the exit of the hole that he still resided in. That same swirling black and white cyclone from Kenkou's 'day dream' encased him and extended into the sky twice as much as the hole was deep. The old man stepped back and gasped at how much spiritual pressure this child was releasing all at once—it trounced his power over ten-fold. Kenkou then jumped out of the hole in one leap and landed before the old man.

He donned the same kimono as the old man and Renji, with an Oni mask on his face filled with razor sharp teeth and a piece of torn, white cloth waving in the wind towards his right side. Kenkou then took his right hand and grabbed the mask from that side and ripped it down furiously. The mask shattered into pieces and as those pieces fell, they dissipated into nothingness. "Hm. I am Commander Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryuusai. I will be training you for many years to come. Are you fine with this?"

"I'm ready," Kenkou replied in a very assured tone.


	4. Debriefing

Yamamoto and Kenkou stood on Sougyoku Hill, waiting on who would make the first move. The night was warm and clear, with the waxing crescent moon glowed brightly as it hung in the sky with all of the stars glimmering brighter than Kenkou has ever seen. "Your first lesson, child, is how to take a hit. If you can take a strike without flinching or reeling in pain, we will move onto the next lesson; understood," Yamamoto asked.

"I think I'm ready." Kenkou moved to a defensive stance, preparing for the worst. Yamamoto ran to him and whacked Kenkou with his cane in his stomach. Kenkou tumbled back from the force of which he was hit.

"In order to be strong, you must take a hit from the best of us Soul Reapers," Yamamoto said calmly, walking to Kenkou as he was trying to catch his breath.

"Wow. That. Was. Hard. What's with you, Yamamoto?"

"It's 'sir' or 'commander' to you, young one. I haven't even gotten your name yet."

"It's Kenkou. Kenkou Martinez. My mom's Japanese and she decided to name me 'balance'."

"Interesting. Now get up. You still have about three hours before you need to be back in the real world."

"Yes, sir." Kenkou got on his feet, ready for another hit. Yamamoto ran again and this time, struck Kenkou on the top of his head. He didn't budge from the hit, but sneered in pain from the intensity of it. A crater stamped the ground as if Kenkou was being hammered into the spot.

"You learn quickly, Kenkou. Now, take two." Yamamoto threw a right kick to Kenkou's left hip and swept him into the air. He then threw down his elbow and nearly broke Kenkou's sternum in doing so. Kenkou bounced off the ground, jumped to his feet, and snapped again into his Karate stance. "Very good, Kenkou. You're learning faster than I expected and you know that you're not defending. Take these hits and just either roll with them to take the full force and attack the opening," Kenkou bowed in thanks and prepared for the next attack.

Yamamoto stood proudly with his long, wrapped beard waving in the wind. The 'fighting' continued for two more hours with each blow becoming faster and more intense. Through all of this, Kenkou didn't bruise nor did any skin open. His body was more resilient than anything Yamamoto has ever seen. Eventually, the two took a break for water that Yamamoto had sent up to the Hill.

"Though there is another hour that we could train, I believe it is enough for tonight. You need your rest as I need mine," Yamamoto said before taking a giant swig from a water pouch that was delivered.

"Thank you, sir. I'll have to admit, that's the most fun I've had in a while," Kenkou said with a smile.

Yamamoto carried Kenkou under an arm while he flashed to the gate that separated the world of the living from the Soul Society. "Wow! That was fast! How did you do it, Commander?"

"In due time," Yamamoto said as the gate to the real world opened. Yamamoto ran with Kenkou under his arm and they appeared at his bedroom window in seconds.

Yamamoto eased Kenkou into his window and he followed after. "The next year will be just like today, but for four to six hours long each night. You will go through another five lessons after that and you'll master each step to becoming a Soul Reaper. Now get your rest and don't tell anyone about what happened tonight or any other night. Just go to school and be a child while you're learning how to protect the souls of those around you and don't, under any circumstances, attempt to use any abilities here in the real world," Yamamoto said sternly.

"Yes sir."

Yamamoto climbed out the window, opened the gate once more, and he was gone. Kenkou placed himself back in his body, rolled over, closed his eyes, and dreamed of the power to protect not just the souls around him, but all souls…

When Yamamoto reached the Soul Society, he sought out Renji Abarai at the Sixth Squad's headquarters. When he arrived, he was greeted by Byakuya Kuchiki, captain of the Sixth Squad. "This is a most honorable visit, Commander Yamamoto, but why so late this night?" Byakuya bowed in respect.

"I require a private conference with Vice-Captain Renji Abarai. Is he here?" Yamamoto bowed back, but only slightly.

"He is in a back room resting. If this conference is private, the room has an adequate amount of privacy barriers."

"Thank you, Captain." Yamamoto bowed again and walked towards the source of Renji's spiritual pressure as he was sleeping. "Wake up, Renji. I need to speak with you."

Renji rolled over, away from Yamamoto and said in his sleep, "C'mon, Captain, I'm trying to sleep here. Can't you wake me up when it's morning…?"

"Oh, so I'm a Captain now? I didn't realize that I've been demoted by a Vice-Captain," Yamamoto said with a smirk.

"Commander Yamamoto! Many apologies, sir, I didn't realize who you were," Renji said after he jumped up and bowed deeply before the Commander.

"Relax, Renji. I've come to talk to you about Kenkou, the child you brought me to train. This child is…peculiar. He exhibits maturity beyond his age. He listens more than most children do and he's rather disciplined. Is there anything you're not telling me about this boy?"

"No, sir. He became something else when he saved me. His power before his dominance over that Hollow was barely noticeable. He felt like a soon to be medium, or a low level energy caster. But when he saw me about to get destroyed, he jumped in, shielded me from the Hollow, and obliterated it before my eyes."

"Hm. So he requires a conscious use of his abilities. This may be easier than I thought."

"Sir, he may already have some type of training. I did some research on the attack he did, and it's called the Kamehameha Wave. It's first use was in a Japanese anime called Dragonball Z by a character named Goku. When I saw a demonstration of it in the TV show, I thought back to when Kenkou performed it, and it matched to every movement. He might be an excellent copycat and that's why that one attack seemed so strong. If he sees something, he can mimic it and make it stronger, I guess."

"I will take that into consideration as I teach him. I heard that you've been off of missions for a month. How about you spend that month training with me and watching Kenkou progress?"

"I would be honored, sir," Renji said thankfully as he bowed and climbed back into his bed.

"Sleep well, Renji. You'll need all the rest you can get to watch us tomorrow night…" Yamamoto whispered. He walked out the door and bid farewell to Byakuya Kuchiki and flash stepped to his headquarters, waiting for the next night…


	5. Defend This

Kenkou woke up and it was any normal day in New York City. He went to school. He played with friends. He did homework. He ate what was prepared for him. He fought with his three year old brother over something trivial and childish. He slept. And like every night for the next year, Kenkou's spirit went to the Soul Society and got beat up on for four hours a night, seven nights a week. By the end of this 'torture', Kenkou was able to take a hit to the face without blinking, falling over, or doing any type of natural reaction.

"Kenkou. You have trained well this past year and now, you are six years old and ready for the next stage. This next stage is defense. Stop all of my attacks," Yamamoto commanded.

"But I've had enough of getting beat! When can I attack…" Kenkou whined.

"No, child. You need to take a beating. Then defend yourself," Yamamoto said. "That doesn't make any sense!"

"Just do it!" Yamamoto bellowed and flash stepped in front of Kenkou and kneed him in the gut. The knee threw Kenkou back about 30 feet, but he didn't cower in pain.

"Fine! I'll defend!" Kenkou snapped up and into a defensive stance. Yamamoto smirked and he darted at him again and swung with his cane at his forehead and Kenkou blocked with crossed arms. Yamamoto then swept at Kenkou's legs. Kenkou jumped back and prepped himself again. Yamamoto dropped his cane and threw a barrage of punches and kicks at Kenkou and he blocked each strike that was thrown at him. The moon glowed brightly in its crescent shape, calmly in the sky.

Renji flashed stepped to the top of the giant, temple gate shaped crucifix and looked down at what looked to be a fight between Kenkou and Yamamoto. _This kid's just defending all of the Commander's attacks?_, Renji thought. Kenkou blocked each and every attack Yamamoto had, but winced a little each time because some of the blows landed on the same location as a previous hit. The waxing crescent moon glowed enchantingly while Renji focused on Kenkou, while sitting on the high bar of the crucifix. _C'mon, kid! Go attack him! Getting beat like this is hurting even me, Ken…_ Yamamoto's barrage of lightning fast kicks, punches, elbows, and knees barely broke through the guard of little Kenkou, who stood four feet, eight inches tall.

The fight finally stopped after three hours of sheer torment from Yamamoto on this quite sturdy boy. "Are we done, master? I can't feel my forearms or knees," said Kenkou.

"It is about time for you to head home, young one. You need what rest you can get and your education is just as important as training your power," Yamamoto said while picking up his cane and resting on it.

The moon was now low in the western sky of the Soul Society, just as the real world. Kenkou wiped the sweat off of his brow and felt a huge twinge in his right forearm. "OOOOW!" Kenkou screamed in agony. "I can't believe I have to get used to this all over again, but now, I'm creating my own force."

"You will learn again, and be stronger for it, my pupil. Greatness comes with repetition and discipline. I believe you will succeed me as Commander, but you need take all of this training to heart not just as how to defeat Hollows, but in life training. Going through the same general motions in something, but finding a different angle to that topic will keep you on your toes and a master of such a subject. Remember these words and you will become a great man, Kenkou."

Yamamoto picked up the child and flashed stepped towards the gate to the real world. When he arrived, he put his free hand forward and the gate opened up. Yamamoto ran through it and nearly as soon as he stepped in, he arrived at Kenkou's room's window. The sky was just starting to become light, but the sun wasn't coming over ocean yet, which was but 300 feet from Kenkou's apartment complex. Yamamoto came into the room and laid Kenkou into his 'dead' body.

"Sleep well with what is left of the night, Kenkou. We shall continue tomorrow night," Yamamoto said while brushing the child's head as a parent would. Kenkou turned over and immediately fell asleep to dream of wonderful things. Yamamoto jumped out of the window and walked in mid-air once more and walked through the shoji doors that led back to the Soul Society. An elderly man that was walking around the complex looked up to see this and fainted instantly.

Yamamoto arrived in Soul Society within moments of leaving Kenkou's home. "Renji, I know you were watching us train all that time. Come down if you have some questions." Renji jumped in shock because he was keeping his spiritual pressure to a minimum, but Yamamoto saw that. He leaped down from one of the pillars that circled the gate to the living.

"I'm sorry sir, I just had some free time and I wanted to see how Kenkou's progressing," Renji said, bowing in respect.

"It's fine Renji. Kenkou's progressing very well. He has mastered taking a hit much faster than anyone else I know; even myself. And as you saw, his defense was instinctual and there's almost nothing to teach him about blocking. All he needs to learn now is endurance so his blocking doesn't affect his offense."

"Thank you for the update, sir. I'll be on my way now," Renji turned to leave, but Yamamoto stopped him.

"Wait. I know you've become much stronger since last year and that month that you were restricted to the Soul Society. Don't stop. Work twice as hard now and ask to face captains if you have to. Just don't stop in becoming the best you can be. And for everyone's sake, work on your kidou. I hear that you have a habit of blowing up from performing your One low-level destructive arts," Yamamoto said, crossing his arms and letting his cane rest on his leg.

"Yeah, it's been happening a lot. I try to keep my cool, but it just doesn't work. I keep tapping into my emotions too much."

"I have a suggestion: bask in your anger. Don't be afraid of who you are when performing your destructive arts. The fewer barriers you put on yourself, the freer your energy is," Yamamoto said with a smile while placing his hand on Renji's shoulder in a friendly matter.

"Thank you, sir. I'll be sure to try that when I have the chance." Renji bowed and walked away from Yamamoto. _Renji will be great one day. He just needs to learn how to let go instead of how to control_


	6. Time To Get Cut

Six months have passed, and now Kenkou was seven years old and he was getting big. He now stood four feet, ten inches tall on a beautiful spring day in the Soul Society. By now, Yamamoto received a mod-soul for Kenkou to use so he could train on the weekends in the middle of the afternoon. The mod-soul occupied his body and acted almost like he did, only it was a little more fun loving and not as serious as Kenkou had become. Kenkou and Yamamoto stood on the top of Sougyoku Hill as the wind blew gently.

Yamamoto dashed at the boy then disappeared. He reappeared on Kenkou's right side in the middle of the air and threw a kick hard enough to break through six feet of concrete and Kenkou blocked it with ease with only his right arm. Yamamoto threw an axe kick that was headed for Kenkou's right collarbone, but again it was thwarted and the same result occurred: the right arm shifted from an upright position to a horizontal position that was parallel to his shoulder line. Neither block fazed Kenkou as he shrugged both legs off with only the strength of his elbow.

Yamamoto jumped back and smirked as he stood tall with his cane laying 100 feet away to his left. "You have learned well in these six months, Kenkou. I do believe it is time we progressed to the next stage of defense…" Yamamoto reached out his left hand and his cane began to shake and rotate towards him.

The cane flew into Yamamoto's left hand and he slammed it on the ground. The cane was set ablaze from end to end, yet the fire did not harm Yamamoto. The cane then broke apart itself as if it were cloth tearing apart to reveal a sheathed katana. It was standard in length with a red hilt and gold, circular hand guard. Yamamoto used his right hand to hold the sheath as he held the sword horizontally and drew it. He threw the sheath to the side and flash-stepped behind Kenkou, cutting him in the process on his right arm.

"AAAAAAHHH!!" Kenkou screamed in pain as blood squirted from his upper arm. He grabbed his arm and screamed, "What's the big idea?! Why are you doing this?!"

"You must now learn how to defend yourself from a blade with your bare hands. Since when you became a soul reaper you didn't get your zanpakutou, you must learn to defend yourself with your bare hands from a blade. Now, try again." Yamamoto then ran at Kenkou and proceeded to slash off Kenkou's left arm with a downward swing. This time, Kenkou saw the attack and caught the blade between his thumb and pointer finger. Blood oozed out of the skin laden area and down Kenkou's arm, dripping down to the ground.

"Good reflexes. Now, how long can you hold on to my blade?" Yamamoto asked. He then came down again and gashed open Kenkou's hand. He screamed in agony from the amount of pain and blood that was gushing out of his hand.

"I need to prove myself. I need to be stronger…" Kenkou prepared himself again, defensively, and his energy began to increase. Yamamoto's body suddenly felt heavier than usual and his breathing became hastened and short from the amount of reiatsu that emanated from Kenkou. Kenkou's energy then manifested itself in a white, fire like aura and the two slashes he suffered from steamed and shrank in size from healing—no scar remained from either wound. The energy then began to swirl around in a cyclone around Kenkou and his eyes, though brown, glowed white from the iris to his pupil, as if someone lit a transparent brown pool with a white light.

Yamamoto increased his own reiatsu, but didn't call forth the power of his zanpakutou, for he didn't want to kill the poor child. The energy pooled around Kenkou and he was conscious to see what was coming at him. _He's learned to truly explode with his reiatsu_, Yamamoto thought.

He then ran to Kenkou and slashed at his waist, but Kenkou blocked his with his right arm, without a scratch. Yamamoto continued with his onslaught and each time, each strike was blocked with one body part or the other, and each block sounded like a sword banging against stone. Kenkou blocked so easily that he smiled through the whole barrage. Kenkou blocked one sword attack and pushed Yamamoto back to the edge of the petrified forest on top of Sougyoku Hill where they've been training for the past two years.

"I can't believe that you learned to defend the blade AND heal within an hour's time. I do believe it's time to step it up…" At that Yamamoto stabbed the ground and the sword stood there.

He threw off his Captain's overcoat and his aura suddenly manifested itself in an orange and yellow flame around his body. Yamamoto then turned his arms inside of his sleeves and shoved off the top part of his kimono. Yamamoto's old body was in great shape and many of his muscles had definition, but his body was covered in battle scars and they all glowed orange like the fire surrounding his body. The fire then spread to a 200 feet diameter ring and both the areas in and outside of the ring rapidly increased in temperature.

Yamamoto then grabbed his sword and it too caught aflame. He then brought it up across his face and said, "Reduce the world to smoldering ashes: Ryuujin Jakka!" The blade then became a blade of fire and he simply waved it at Kenkou. Kenkou saw the arc of fire and kept his cool by putting his hands together in front of him, fingers outward, and he used his reiatsu to cut through the arc of fire and dispersed it. "Very good, Kenkou. Let's see what else you can do…" Yamamoto charged at Kenkou, and Kenkou at Yamamoto and they clashed in a bright flash of light and power on the top of Sougyoku Hill.


	7. Hide and Seek with Ribbons

"The progress you've made is remarkable, Kenkou. No other Soul Reaper I know of could advance as quickly and as well as you have in the past two years." Yamamoto and Kenkou sat on the ledge of Sougyoku Hill, looking down at the Seireitei on a warm autumn day in the Soul Society.

"Thank you, master, but I haven't even learned how to attack yet," Kenkou said, turning to his left to look at Yamamoto.

"Remember, young one, before you can run, you need to learn to crawl. Before you can hit your target, you must be fast enough to catch your target." Yamamoto grabbed his cane, which was between the two, and he disappeared into thin air.

"HEY! That's not funny, master! You can stop with the games now!" Kenkou shouted with a twinge of loneliness in his voice. A minute had passed and the wind gusted, but with no Yamamoto in sight. "Great, I thought being seven years old, I was past 'hide and go seek'…" Kenkou jumped off of the ledge and fell a half a mile down to the ground, and landed with a crash. The crater he made was three feet deep and 15 feet wide. He jumped out into a somersault 20 feet in the air, landed in a runner's ready position, and dashed towards the Seireitei, thinking that Yamamoto went to his offices.

After 30 minutes of running, Kenkou ended up at the front door of Yamamoto's office after some questioning of other Soul Reapers on the location. He searched the office for Yamamoto, but to no avail.

Kenkou left the building pondering of where his master could be. While walking, he knocked into another Soul Reaper and almost knocked him over in doing so. He stood six feet, two inches tall and had brown hair, brown eyes, and glasses. The Soul Reaper had the standard kimono on, but he also wore a white over coat which was underlined with an aqua material. On the back was a diamond with an 'h' shaped character with a line above, and a line below the character in the center of the diamond. He was fair in complexion and his face was as gentle as they come. The man stepped back a few steps and apologized. "I'm sorry for that, but shouldn't you watch where you're going, little one?"

"I'm sorry, Captain. I didn't see you there. I'm just trying to figure out where my master is." Kenkou turned to the captain and bowed.

The captain walked back over and patted Kenkou on his head and at that, he stood back up and looked at the gentle man. "Well, I really have nothing to do, so I'll help you. Who's your master, child?" He asked with a smile.

"My master is Commander Yamamoto. He just disappeared while we were just sitting on Sougyoku Hill."

"Oh my, he's training you? You must be strong!"

"I think I am, but my master is the strongest in all of the Soul Society!"

"That he is, that he is. What's your name, child?"

"I'm sorry, where are my manners. I'm Kenkou Martinez, apprentice to Commander Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genreyuusai, son of Sozounushi Martinez and brother of Jiriki Martinez. Pleased to meet you," Kenkou said in another bow.

"Likewise. I'm Souske Aizen: captain of the Fifth Squad of the 13 Court Guard Squads and my Lieutenant is Momo Hinamori. Now, you said you needed help finding Commander Yamamoto? Well, since he's the strongest in all of the Soul Society, he should be easy to find with spirit ribbons."

"Spirit ribbons? What're those?"

"Spirit ribbons are ribbons of reiatsu that can identify a person's soul type and at long distances, determine their power. Just watch." All of a sudden, a slew of red ribbons appeared before Aizen and Kenkou. "I just used my own reiatsu to call forth these ribbons. Red ribbons denote Soul Reapers, white ones are for humans and Quincys, and if you come across a black or purple one, they're for Hollows. If you grab one, and it snaps back a certain amount of times, it symbolizes the power of the ribbon you grabbed—and the number of snaps back is always out of five," Aizen said, grabbing a ribbon out of the air. "What you do is you send just a little bit of your energy into the ribbon and snap it lightly. It should snap back a few seconds afterwards." Aizen snapped it lightly and it snapped back twice loudly.

"Oooo, can I try?"

"Sure Kenkou, but you have to call forth the ribbons yourself." Aizen smiled at the boy. Kenkou closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, twice as many ribbons as what Aizen called upon appeared. "Wow, kid! Well done, well done." Kenkou took a ribbon from the air and did as Aizen told him: he sent a little of his energy through it and snapped it lightly. The ribbon snapped back once as hard as when Aizen's snapped back. "Very good, Kenkou. Now all you have to do is process of elimination and find one that snaps back five times."

Kenkou snapped one ribbon after another as he searched for one that would crack back five times—one, three, four, four, two, one, three, four, four, three, three, and finally five. "I found it! That's Yamamoto! Well, I have to be off now. Thank you for the lesson, Captain Aizen." Kenkou bowed and ran in the direction of the ribbon, holding it along the way.

The rest of the spirit ribbons dissipated as Kenkou ran off into the distance, holding the ribbon that snapped back five times. As he ran away, Aizen brought forth the spirit ribbon of Kenkou and snapped it lightly—ten cracks. _There's no way he could be twice as strong as Commander Yamamoto, is there? I'll just have to wait and see. He might be good for my cause…_


	8. Hide and Seek with Flash Steps

Kenkou ran, and ran, and was only in the middle of the Seireitei when he doubled over and panted heavily. "There has to be an easier way to travel…." As he said that, another captain walked towards him in the distance with what looked to be her lieutenant. She was about five feet, nine inches tall, but you couldn't tell her weight from all of the loose clothing. She had long, black hair which was neat on her head and came down the front of her body in a braid that looked to reach her stomach. Her eyes reeked of inner pain, yet overflowed with kindness. Her lieutenant was an inch taller with light purple hair that looked a little messy, but a controlled mess. Two thin, long braids hung from atop her right ear and two more behind her head.

They walked up to Kenkou and the captain asked, "Are you alright, child?"

"I'm just out of breath… I'm trying to find my master, Commander Yamamoto, but just running is way too slow and I'm out of breath from running for fifteen minutes straight."

"Your master is Commander Yamamoto? Why?"

"It seems he deems me worthy for personal training, but it seems that he wants to play hide and seek with me."

"Oh, well, I can teach you something that'll make you much faster: it's called Flash Steps," said the captain.

"Flash steps? How do you do them?"

"It's quite simple. You put your reiatsu into your feet and then you just jump, or dash, whichever you prefer to call it. And it's best that you don't put all of your reiastu into your feet because if you do while in a battle, you may leave yourself open if you don't bounce back quickly enough."

"Oh! Ok, can you show me how?"

"I'll be happy to, but first, what is your name?"

"I'm sorry, I keep forgetting my manners today, ma'am. I'm Kenkou Martinez, son of Souzonushi Martinez and brother of Jiriki Martinez. Pleased to meet you, Captain."

"I'm Retsu Unohana, captain of the Fourth Squad—our main task is healing. And this is my lieutenant: Isane Kotetsu."

"Pleased to meet you, Kenkou," Isane said in a bow. Kenkou bowed back at Isane first, and then Unohana.

"Likewise, Isane. Now, are you going to teach me Flash Steps, Captain?"

"Oh yes, just watch." Captain Unohana disappeared and reappeared behind Kenkou and tapped him on his shoulder. "Did you see me, Kenkou?"

"Whoa! I didn't even see you! How did you do that?" Kenkou asked in amazement.

"Just like I told you: put some of your reiatsu into your legs and step where you want to go. You'll start out with a long stride and you'll build up to not needing a step if you practice enough," Unohana said in a kind tone. "Now use Isane here as a target to Flash Step around. Can you do that, Kenkou?"

"I think so." Kenkou locked on to Isane with his eyes and put some of his power into his legs and took one stride, then the other, and in a flash, he appeared behind Isane, just as he planned. "Cool! I wanna do it again!" Kenkou exclaimed in joy.

"Because you're still learning, just start from a distance and work your way to her," said Unohana.

Kenkou remained behind Isane as she stood still, but took about ten steps back from her. He locked on again, refocused his reiatsu into his legs, and appeared in front of her. He looked up as she looked down and Isane gave a smirk. She was glad he was learning so quickly and a look of pride appeared on her face because of it.

"Very good, Kenkou! You learned that very quickly. The next kind of Flash Step is a distance kind of step. You use this kind when you're in a hurry to go somewhere, like you were before," said Unohana in a educational tone. "Ok, ma'am, I'll try it. It's the same thing, but I just 'Step' as far as I can?"

"Exactly."

Kenkou nodded and didn't lock on to either Captain Unohana or her lieutenant. He flash stepped from one side of the wide walkway to the other and made a rectangle the way he was flash stepping—he did all this taking his two long strides as well. He stopped between Isane and Unohana and smiled. "How was that?"

"Oh my! You pick techniques up quickly, young one. You're training under Yamamoto you say?"

"Yes, Captain. I've been training with him for two years now," Kenkou smiled as he spoke.

"Amazing! When you're older, I'll recommend you myself for captain hood. I just need to see how you progress, but at this rate, you could be the youngest captain in Soul Society history!"

"Thank you, ma'am, but there's no need to. I think I'll be fine as Master Yamamoto's apprentice for the rest of my human days and the rest of my soul's existence," Kenkou said in a bow.

"You're a human?!" Unohana asked in astonishment.

"Yeah, I'm seven years old. I'm not all that special where I come from, but I'm very special here, so I'm told by Commander Yamamoto."

_This young and he's already at a captain's level in his reiatsu level? Could he be the second coming?_, thought Captain Unohana.

"Well, it was nice meeting the both of you, but I need to get going. I have to go to sleep in a few hours in the living world and my mod soul needs to recharge by staying out of my body."

"It's fine, Kenkou. We'll both keep an eye on you—isn't that right, Isane?"

"Yes, Captain, I'll do my best to watch him," Isane said in a smile with a light salute with her right hand. Kenkou bowed and thanked both of the soul reapers for the lesson he learned. He quickly found the spirit ribbon he was tracking and grabbed it and flash stepped down the walkway.

"Being that he's Yamamoto's apprentice, where do you see him going when he's older, Isane?" Unohana asked while they continued to walk back to Squad Four's headquarters.

"I don't know, Captain. He's stronger than I am, but it's hard to know where he lands at such a young age."

"Quite true, Isane, quite true… Do you think Yamamoto should really be training such a lovely child? He can be rather short tempered, if you haven't noticed."

"I understand that, but the child has been training with him for two years now, like Kenkou said, and he seems rather happy with the situation. We should let the Commander decide what's best for the Soul Society; he is the oldest among the Soul Reapers."

"You're right, Isane. I'm still going to give him my recommendation to be Captain when he's old enough."

"Yes, Captain."


	9. The Wrong Path

Kenkou flash stepped to the Eleventh Squad's headquarters and a puzzled look came over his face. "Why would he be at the Eleventh Squad's headquarters?" Kenkou asked himself while looking up at the awning that had the same symbol as Aizen's overcoat, but it had a plus symbol with a line under it in the center of the diamond. Kenkou walked in, holding the ribbon, tracing it back to its source. He walked down the hall and came to some sliding doors and Kenkou felt that the source of the ribbon was behind the doors. _I have you now, master…_

Kenkou slid the door over violently and screamed, "GOTCHA!"

"Who do you have, kid?" Kenkou looked at the man sitting at a floor level table in shock because this was not Yamamoto. He stood up and turned to face Kenkou and said, "What're you doing barging into my office?" the tall man said in a calm voice, but because it was so fearsome, Kenkou shook in his sandals.

He looked up to see a man with caramel colored skin, but lighter than Kenkou's, and a scar down his face that came over his left eye. He had black hair that was spiked backwards instead of up, and at the end of each clump of hair, he had a bell than jangled as he walked. He also wore a black eye patch that covered his right eye and his captain's overcoat was tattered on all of the edges. "Can I help you, kid?" the Captain said looking down at the tiny boy, for the captain was six foot seven inches tall.

"Um, uh…"

"Well? Spit it out, kid, I don't have all day!"

"Well, I'm looking for Commander Yamamoto. Have you seen him?" Kenkou asked with a dazed look.

"I haven't seen him today and he's nowhere near here. Why did you come here looking for him?"

"I was just following the strongest spirit ribbon I found to this location, thinking it was my master."

"Well, kid, you're wrong—now get out."

"I'm sorry, Captain, but c-can you help me find Commander Yamamoto?" The tall captain looked at this child's pleading eyes.

"No, kid, now get out of my office!" The captain said, piercing Kenkou's soul with his uncovered eye.

"Yes, sir…"

Kenkou sauntered out the door of the captain's office and down the hall towards the exit. As he walked away, he bumped into another soul reaper and he screamed, "Hey! Watch where you're going, boy!" Kenkou continued to walk to the exit, ignoring the soul reaper. "Have some manners and apologize!" The soul reaper ran up in front of the child placed his left foot on Kenkou's forehead, stopping him in his tracks. Kenkou looked up and saw the bald head of the soul reaper, then down to his eyes which were painted on the outer side edges.

"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to bother you…" the child said sullenly.

"Good. That's all I wanted. What's the matter, kid?" The bald soul reaper asked.

"I asked the captain in the other room to help me find Yamamoto, but he was really, really mean to me…"

"Man, that's just Kenpachi Zaraki. He can be really rude sometimes, but he's the best in battle. I'm Ikkaku Madarame, third seat of the eleventh squad. And you are?"

"I'm Kenkou Martinez, apprentice to Commander Yamamoto. I've been learning from him for two years." Kenkou bowed at Ikkaku.

"Hm, nice to meet ya. If you need to find Yamamoto, how did you get here?"

"I followed the strongest spirit ribbon to your captain, Zaraki, and now I have no idea where to start looking again."

"That's easy, kid! Just find another strong power while you're around the Captain!" Ikkaku knocked Kenkou on the head for being so stupid.

"OW! Good idea." Kenkou rubbed his head where Ikkaku struck and smiled at Ikkaku.

Kenkou closed his eyes and breathed deeply and this time felt great attachments to nearly ever soul reaper in all of the Soul Society. When he opened his eyes, red ribbons from every soul reaper were waving upwards from the ground. "Wow, kid! You can already pull this many ribbons?" Kenkou smile and nodded and began grabbing and snapping spirit ribbons from the air. "Just to let you know, the only other person that's as strong as Commander Yamamoto is Captain Zaraki." Kenkou continued through the ribbons: two, two, one, three, three, four, two, one, and five.

"I got it! This definitely feels like Master Yamamoto!" Kenkou yelled excitedly, jumping up and down.

"Don't get too excited, kid. Follow the ribbon and make sure it's not the captain's," Ikkaku said, smirking. Kenkou followed the red spirit ribbon with Ikkaku in tow as they walked outside of the eleventh squad's headquarters. "Yup, the captain's still inside so this ribbon is Commander Yamamoto's ribbon. Take care kid, I have some training to do."

"Ok, thanks Ikkaku, it was great to meet you!" Kenkou smiled then bowed.

"Hmph, same to you, kid." Ikkaku patted Kenkou's head while he was down bowing. Kenkou then ran, and flash stepped to the corner that was down the walk way, and Kenkou disappeared, holding the spirit ribbon in his hand… _Strange. I didn't see or feel him as he flash stepped away…_ Ikkaku thought.


	10. Found Him! Now Bring It All Together!

Kenkou flash stepped to the northern gate of Seireitei and looked up at what seemed to be an insurmountable wall. "Wow, that's high, but I think I can do it…" Kenkou ran at the wall at full speed and before he came to it, he jumped and flash stepped to the middle of the 100-story wall and proceeded to run up the wall for three stories and he flash stepped again, this time coming 20 feet above the top of the wall. When he landed crouched on the top of the wall, two guards looked in shock at who landed at their post.

"What the hell…?" The kid flash stepped away and landed 300 feet away from Seireitei.

"Any idea who that was," one guard questioned.

"No idea. All I know is that child has some wicked flash steps…." Both guards looked off into the distance where Kenkou was going towards…

Kenkou made it into the first Rukongai in the Northwest sector, the highest district of the Soul Society without entering the Seireitei, and flash stepped towards the source of the spirit ribbon he was still holding on to. _I'm starting to feel beyond the ribbon… I sense that Yamamoto isn't much farther_, Kenkou thought, flashing his way towards his target. He came up on a park of sorts and tall trees were everywhere. _He's here, I can feel it. I'm gonna find you, master… _Kenkou jumped to the tree tops and he flashed from branch to branch of each tree. He stopped on the ground in a cleared patch in the forest and looked up and saw Yamamoto napping in a tree. _Perfect opportunity… _Kenkou smiled and jumped to meet him and screamed, "I FOUND YOU, MASTER!!"

Yamamoto jumped so badly out of his sleep that he fell with his cane to the ground and he landed on his left shoulder.

"DAMN IT, BOY!" Yamamoto clenched the shoulder from the impact, but nothing was seriously injured. Kenkou rolled on the ground laughing from how badly he scared Yamamoto.

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!! I got you good, Master!" Kenkou smiled and got up to see if his master was alright from the fall. Yamamoto got up, using his cane as a crutch.

"Very funny Kenkou, now let's get back to training. You've learned a new technique and I want you to master it soon so we can get to the next phase of our training."

"Sorry Master, I couldn't resist! I like funny!" Kenkou smiled at his master and they began to walk back towards Seireitei.

"Do you think you can race me there, boy?"

"I don't think I'll win, but I think I can give you a run for your money," Kenkou smiled again at Yamamoto, but it was more of a competitive smirk than a full blown smile.

Kenkou took a few running steps towards the Seireitei and flash stepped a few hundred feet with Yamamoto following him step for step. Kenkou and Yamamoto continued to flash step towards the wall of Seireitei matching each other's movements. They finally reached the wall of Seireitei, instead of the gate, and they both looked up. "Did you climb this once before, Kenkou?" Yamamoto looked to his right, but Kenkou wasn't there.

"HEY! I'M UP HERE! YOU COMING OR WHAT?!" Kenkou yelled waving his left hand emphatically.

Yamamoto immediately appeared next to Kenkou and said, "Now what, boy." Kenoku jumped off of the top of the wall and landed smoothly on the ground within the Seireitei—Yamamoto was right in front of him when he landed. "Keep trying to get ahead of me, don't stop."

Yamamoto disappeared and Kenkou sneered at Sougyoku Hill where he knew that Yamamoto would be waiting. He ran a few strides toward the Hill and flash stepped 500 feet forwards it. He kept flash stepping more and more and blew past a few soul reapers as he was doing so.

Kenkou appeared at Sougyoku Hill panting heavily from flash stepping so much. Yamamoto was already there, meditating. "So glad you could join me, Kenkou." Yamamoto's eyes were closed and the wind blew gentle and warm for it was July in both the world of the living and the Soul Society.

"I had to come from the edge of the Seireitei, straight to here, and there was a huge vertical flash step for me. I had to flash step about six times up here!" Kenkou tried to scream while he was still a bit out of breath.

"You just need training. Calm down and focus," Yamamoto said sternly before he got up and walked to his student. Kenkou took one last deep breath and focused his energy into his body. It worked slowly through his body, but after ten seconds, Kenkou was fine. "There's a faster way to pool your energy without drawing into emotions like you like to do during training. Clear your mind," Yamamoto commanded.

"Always with the clearing…"

"Mind your manners, young one!" Kenkou snapped into a relaxed stand and he did as he was told, for Yamamoto's voice commanded like no other; save his mother. Kenkou cleared his mind and let his body just be. "Good. You're blank. Now, I want you to draw a circle in your mind and the inside of that circle is a pool of your energy. Do you see it?"

"Yes, Master, I see it, but I don't think I should go in there…" Kenkou saw a pool of black and white energy that continuously fought itself—it was imbalance and chaos in its purest forms.

"Do not be afraid to obtain power. To have power and use it wisely is the path of righteousness. Embrace this power, Kenkou."

"Yes, Master."

Kenkou, in his mind, jumped through the pool of uncertainty and as he did, the realm came to balance and calm came to the area. _"We are your power, Kenkou. We are parts of you. But we cannot come out until you show us that you're worthy to fight alongside us…"_ Two voices said in unison—one on the left and one on the right of Kenkou.

He opened his eyes to see black and white streams of energy pour out the ground he was standing on as well as from his body. His body felt warm, but not a blistering heat: it was the warmth that you'd get from being in a parent's embrace. Kenkou looked up and smiled. "This is the best I've ever felt. I know I'm only seven, but this is wonderful! Maybe there's more!" Kenkou closed his eyes once more and drew another circle within the pool of energy that he was already in. The circle's inside was a solid gray and since Kenkou was naturally curious, he went in without hesitation. When his body was completely engulfed in the gray pool, Kenkou shot his eyes open and the energy just streamed off of him. "Control yourself, Kenkou, don't overextend yourself!"

"But I feel so good! I think I can go one more!"

"NO! You must control it—that is the true mark of a warrior."

"Yes, Master." Kenkou focused the energy into his left hand and it stabilized as it was compacted into a ball that rested in Kenkou's open hand.

"Very good, young one! You catch on very quickly. Now fire it at the dead forest over there." Yamamoto pointed towards the petrified forest and Kenkou turned towards it. Kenkou faced the ball towards the dead trees and chose one to aim it at.

"Now what, Master?"

"It's your energy, I don't know how to release it!"

"Fine!" Kenkou put his right hand on his left forearm to brace for the release of energy. "Shoot!" The ball of energy screamed out of Kenkou's palm and the shot threw him back 80 feet. The ball directly hit a tree and explosively blew away the trees surrounding it and smashed a crater where the trees used to exist which spread 40 feet wide and ten feet deep.

"Impressive, Kenkou, but we need to work on everything you've learned today." Kenkou lay on his back, drained of energy, sleeping calmly. "I guess we'll have to wait for tomorrow, then. But from tomorrow, you're in for a year of hell, young one…"


	11. Hit Me

"That's a lot of power coming from the top of Sougyoku Hill! I know Yamamoto's up there, but I don't recognize the power at all," Kenpachi said, lying down in his office within the Eleventh Squad's barracks.

"I don't know who's there, Ken-chan, I don't recognize it either," his little, pink haired vice-captain said while sitting on top of Kenpachi, looking out the window.

"That's Kenkou, the kid you kicked out earlier today just cuz he was asking you a question," Ikkaku said, leaning against the post of the doorway. "Besides, I thought you couldn't feel reiatsu, Captain?"

"Heh! You don't need to 'sense' this kid's reiatsu—it's massive! I can't wait till the old man finishes training this kid! Kicking his ass will be so much fun!" Kenpachi said smiling out at Sougyoku Hill.

"HA! Not if I get to him first, Captain!" Ikkaku left the room and walked off to the training area.

A year of brutal training has gone by and Kenkou was now eight years old. He stood, facing Yamamoto on the top of Sougyoku Hill. The wind blew atop the Hill with warm tones that felt of the previous summer. October was a good month to be training outside: leaves changing to the deep oranges, browns, and reds to show the year's progression. The season didn't show itself as they trained, for the forest that took up half of the cliff was forever petrified without any leaves on the branches.

"Go," Yamamoto commanded.

He flash stepped behind Kenkou, but Kenkou quickly countered and flashed to the left of his master. Yamamoto attempted to strike his apprentice, but his hand phased through Kenkou's 'body' and Yamamoto looked in amazement. As soon as he realized that Kenkou wasn't there, Kenkou flashed above Yamamoto and appeared in a one-handed handstand on Yamamoto's head with his legs in a v-shape in the air. "You've finally mastered all forms for flash steps, Kenkou, but you didn't need to be so flamboyant about it…"

"I was just having some fun!" Kenkou leaped off of Yamamoto's head and landed in front of him, smiling.

"Now that you can catch your target, you'll now learn how to hit it. Now, strike me," Yamamoto commanded. Kenkou flashed behind Yamamoto and proceeded to chop his neck with his right hand, but Yamamoto blocked it and thrust a back kick into Kenkou's stomach. Kenkou stepped back, but didn't reel in pain.

"What was that for? You said to hit you!"

"I did, but I didn't say that I wouldn't fight back…"

"Oh, you sneaky man…" Kenkou ran at Yamamoto this time, and prepped for a left haymaker as he ran. _Moving this slowly, huh? Let's see what you've got_, Yamamoto thought. Kenkou pulled his left fist back a little more and was about to come down on Yamamoto's head, but he flashed to Yamamoto's right, then above him, and finally in the same place he first flash stepped from and landed a right roundhouse into Yamamoto's torso. Yamamoto tried to block it, but he was too late and the kick landed square and caused him to skid on his feet 30 feet to his right. "Good hit, my apprentice, but how's your leg feeling?" Yamamoto smirked as he looked at Kenkou from a distance.

"What do you…YAH!" Kenkou grabbed his shin in pain and dropped to the floor.

"A hard body produces that kind of kick back. Besides, your body isn't used striking anything, just in taking the hits. You'll get used to it."

"This sucks, master!"

"Suck it up, child! I have no patience for this!" Kenkou got up and readied himself in an attack position. Kenkou flashed in front of Yamamoto and threw a right hook—blocked—a left front kick—blocked—and the fight continued with back and forth between the two fighters. "Dulled the pain a little, I see. You know, you'll have to hit me harder if you plan to penetrate my defense. Keep going," Yamamoto commented as the fight progressed.

Elsewhere, Renji was back from some real world duties and as he laid down to rest in the Sixth Squad's barracks, he felt Kenkou and Yamamoto's reiatsus clashing against one another. "There's definitely a fight going on this time. And Kenkou has improved in his energy control a lot in the last three years. It's gone up just a little, but his control is on par with any vice-captain. It's only a matter of time when his control and reiatsu level are equal," Renji said to himself aloud.

"He is a remarkable human, but he's a human nonetheless. He will never achieve Bankai, and he will never be a captain," Byakuya interrupted.

"I beg to differ, Captain. Kenkou has a ton of potential and if you're feeling the fight correctly, he's twice as strong as Yamamoto in this stage of being a Soul Reaper."

"He still does not possess his zanpakutou and he's three years into his intensive training, Renji."

"When any of us went through formal training, none of us found our zanpakutou until our twentieth year of training, Captain."

"You are from one of the seventy-eightieth district of the Rukongai; you're a special exception. I found out about my Senbonzakura after ten years of training."

"Heh, I still think that if you faced him on the same level that he's training for right now, he'd wipe the floor with you." Renji smiled and put his hands behind his head as he lay on his back.

"You assume too much, Renji. I'll take you up on that. If he invites me to fight him, I'll only match his level. If he obtains Bankai by the time I face him, it'll be no holds barred. Would you like to wager anything?"

"Heh, you surprise me every chance you get, Captain. If Kenkou wins, I don't have to do paperwork or clean the barracks for a year."

"And if I win?"

"If you win, I'll face every hollow I come across with my kidou only AND I'll scrub your office clean every night with a toothbrush—and all of that in a year—deal?"

"Prepare to have this blow up in your face, Renji. I refuse to allow some human to overpower me." Byakuya walked over to Renji and they shook hands while Renji was still on the floor. "And by the way, that mission you just got back from? There's tons of paper work for you to do on it waiting for you in my office."

"Damn it, damn it, damn it…." Renji stomped away to Byakuya's office and snatched the paper work off of his desk so he could complete it in his room.


	12. A Stab at Kidou

…Yamamoto slid back 50 feet, keeled over and grabbed his stomach in pain. "Good hit, Kenkou. You could be made into a warrior yet." Yamamoto stood up and wiped the blood from the side of his mouth and smirked underneath his heavy, white mustache.

"Come on! A year of martial arts training should produce something like this, Master! It's not like I've just been sitting on my butt for a year, watching you fight yourself," Kenkou said, walking over to his master.

"I'm glad you thoroughly mastered hand to hand combat, but there is another stage in becoming a fully realized soul reaper: Kidou. It's where you focus your reiatsu, or energy, into different distance attacks. Are you ready?" Yamamoto's cane, lying off to the side, shook and flew into his right hand.

"I'm ready, master. Besides, fighting and winning against you is getting rather boring." Kenkou smiled and chuckled a bit.

"Don't get cocky, boy!" Yamamoto slammed his cane down with authority and Kenkou shook in his sandals. "Now, we will begin with a low level kidou spell called a destructive art. Now, put two fingers out in front of you and call out after me." Yamamoto pointed two fingers in front of him, but they weren't aimed at anything.

Kenkou could feel the energy around him being pulled towards Yamamoto and his own reiatsu began to increase rapidly. _Wow, I knew he was strong, but this is crazy! Isn't this supposed to be a low level spell anyway?_ Kenkou thought. "Since both of our reiatsu levels are so high, I'll only teach you the name of the spell and its number—you cannot learn the incantation of any kidou spell, understood?"

"Yes, Master."

Yamamoto exhaled deeply and closed his eyes. He then inhaled twice as deep and bolted his eyes open and bellowed, "Hadou four: white lightning!"

All the energy stopped moving around and within Yamamoto and a bolt of lightning streamed out of the two fingers he pointed outward. The size and light of the bolt was so blinding, that the area around them grew dark in contrast in the middle of the day.

"Whoa. And I can do that?" Kenkou asked with an open jaw from astonishment. The stream of lightning stopped and Yamamoto relaxed his hand.

"Yes, now you try it. Just remain focused and think of only your reiatsu," said Yamamoto.

Kenkou nodded and turned to his left to aim off of Sougyoku Hill. He exhaled and pointed his first two left fingers outward, aiming at an angle towards the sky. He pulled energy from the surrounding area and conjured up a ton of his own energy and two 'cyclones' circled around him; one black and one white, and in opposite directions of each other. _Just into my fingers and let it go_, Kenkou thought. "Hadou four: white lightning!" All of his energy gathering stopped and white energy gathered at the end of his two fingers, but no stream or shot.

"That's odd… Try again, Kenkou."

"Yes, Master." Kenkou already had enough reiatsu gathered, so he pointed his two left fingers out again, and held his arm with his right hand and exclaimed again, "Hadou four: white lightning!"—nothing.

"Hmm. It makes no sense as to why it shouldn't work. Try once more."

"Yes, Master." Kenkou pointed out his two left fingers, held his arm and pooled a lot of energy out of himself in a very explosive manner. "HADOU FOUR: WHITE LIGHTNING!!" The energy gathered in a ball at the end of his fingers, but all the energy did was fade away.

"Hm. I'll have to research this problem, Kenkou. Go and visit Renji, I bet he'll enjoy seeing you after these four long years of training," Yamamoto said with a stern, concerned look on his face.

"Sure, I'll go see him. He's a vice-captain, right?"

"Yes he is."

"To who, Master?"

"Byakuya Kuchiki of the Sixth Squad; they should both be within their barracks."

"Thank you, Master. Be sure to come get me, when I need to leave, ok?"

"Sure thing, Kenkou, now go have fun."

Kenkou nodded and made a ball off energy in his left hand. He searched for Renji's reiatsu and threw the ball above where Renji was located. He then focused his reiatsu into his legs and flash stepped away, standing, and reappeared at the mid-point of the distance between Renji and his original point of departure. Kenkou flash stepped again and appeared at the entrance of the Sixth Squad's headquarters. When he arrived, the energy ball he threw reabsorbed into his right outstretched arm.

Yamamoto sat upon the crucifix of Sougyoku Hill and pondered on what to do with Kenkou's lack of kidou abilities. _How can any Soul Reaper be incapable of releasing any kind of kidou attacks? Even Renji, who is pathetic at kidou maneuvers, can at least use the Red Shot of Fire; albeit explosive in his face. Is something that different in how his reiatsu is configured?_ Yamamoto flashed from the top of the crucifix and appeared at the Twelfth Squad's door and knocked.

"Nemu! Answer that damned door and see who it is!" the 12th squad's captain screamed. A young woman answered the door with a slight smile. She had the standard Soul Reaper kimono, but it was cut off and made a skirt that came roughly three inches below the cheek of her butt. The arms remained at the standard length, but they were much narrower than most other kimonos. She had a red necklace and purple hair that framed a face that bore on it much pain, yet a kindness towards all living things.

"Oh my! Commander Yamamoto, how unexpected! Please, do come in." Nemu guided Yamamoto in and walked behind him as they walked to the far side of the 12th squad's campus to the Scientific Research Center. Not before long, Nemu and Yamamoto arrived in the main computer office of the Center and she opened the door.

"Nemu, how many times do I have to tell you! Announce who's coming before you interrupt my work!"

"Many apologies, Captain Kurotsuchi, it'll never happen again," Nemu said bowing to her captain, who was sitting down, eyes glued to the massive 76-inch computer screen.

"I'll see to it that you won't, Nemu. Now, whoever you are, I'm overwhelmed with work so you need to come back later if it's that important." Kurotsuchi continued to type away and analyze what was on the screen.

"Is that any way to address a commanding officer, Mayuuri?"

"Many apologies, Commander Yamamoto, I'm far too embedded in my work to notice any reiatsu, as you can see. What is it you need; I'm quite busy as you can see."

"I need you to do some simple research, seeing as how you're the head of the Research Department."

"I'll try to fit it into my schedule, or Nemu's, if there's any importance to it." Kurotsuchi looked over at the door where Yamamoto was standing, but kept his face nearly plastered to the screen.

"It concerns someone that is of grave importance to the Soul Society. I need you to research a subject concerning the following criteria: human, soul reaper, kidou, and the time frame of between five to ten thousand years ago. And I need what you come up with by the end of today—it's an order."

"Well, since it's an order, I'll get right on it. Those are some strange and specific topics, Commander. Do you mind telling me what they're for?" Mayuuri turned his whole head this time and smiled from his curiosity.

"You'll know in a few years if everything goes as planned." Yamamoto smirked at Mayuuri.

"Hm! Won't even share the knowledge. Fine, but you better tell me in the next few years as you promised." Mayuuri turned back to the computer screen and continued to type.

"I'll do you one better, Captain, I'll show you why you're doing this for me." Yamamoto bowed and thanked Mayuuri for his time and thanked Nemu for showing him in and he walked on his own back to his office.

Mayuuri turned to Nemu, who was standing in the door way still and said, "Great, more work. You know that you'll be handling most of this for now, right?"

"Yes, Captain. Where should I start looking?" "Try the Grand Library—that should be the only place that has records dating as far back as the Commander said. Contact me only if it's of the utmost urgency."

"Yes, Captain."

Nemu bowed and left for the Grand Library. _My guess is that all this research is for that massive reiatsu Yamamoto's been dealing with for the last four years_, Mayuuri thought to himself as he continued his current work.

Kenkou walked through the gated entrance of the Sixth Squad's headquarters and walked to the source of Renji's energy. _Oh boy, I bet he'll be surprised when he sees me!_ Kenkou went through a few hallways and opened up a door to his right, which was at the center of the building. "Can I help you, young one?" Byakuya was sitting at his desk completing some routine paper work as Kenkou barged in.

"Yeah, do you know where Renji is?"

"No common courtesy? No 'excuse me'? No apologies? Such an insolent child…" Byakuya said with his eyes closed, but no angry expression came over his face.

"Don't catch an attitude with me, old man, I'm just looking for Renji!" the boy said with an irritated look.

"My, has anyone taught you any matters? It's a wonder you're still alive, you naïve child." Byakuya continued with his paperwork but his tone grew from annoyed to irritated.

"You place yourself way too high, Captain Buttface! No patience and no humility! Who do you think you are, Mister?!"

Byakuya stood up swiftly from his chair and anger poured over his face. "Insolent children should be dealt with swiftly."

At that, Renji slid open his joined door to the office and said, "Hey, what's all the commotion?"

"Do you know this boy, Renji?" Renji looked at the nine year old who stood four feet, eleven inches tall with a puzzled look.

"No, I can't say that I…" Kenkou increased his reiatsu to a level that neither Renji nor Byakuya ever felt before. _This child is stronger than Commander Yamamoto himself!? Impossible!_ Byakuya thought to himself. "Now I know you! Kenkou, how've you been? How's the training?" Renji asked with a slight smile.

"It's going well. We'll be starting kidou as soon as Master Yamamoto finds out why I can't perform the destructive spells." Byakuya shook in his shoes at the magnitude of reiatsu that not just came out of a young boy, but at the rate it came out. _He is the one who has been training with Commander Yamamoto?! A boy, no, a human boy?! Is he the second coming…?_

"Good job, Kenkou! What have you covered so far with the Commander?"

"We started off with taking a beating, then graduated to sword slashes, then defending, then flash steps and reiatsu sensing and control, then physical attacks. I can't wait to learn kidou!"

"That's great, Kenkou, really, but where is your zanpakutou? Here, you've been training for four years and you've yet to use a sword of any kind."

"I think Yamamoto wants me to master each step and not jump to anything yet. I think after kidou, he'll have me train with everything at once so I can perfect it all."

Byakuya looked on with open eyes and open mouth, still in disbelief. _I've heard stories about how someone stronger than any Soul Reaper in the Soul Society joined our ranks not once, but twice and he was human. No one's heard from that person since then. Could this be a second incarnation? Will this be the end of the Soul Society? No—patience will be best for him. Only time will tell if he's a savior or curse upon the Soul Society._

"Captain, I'm gonna take Kenkou out to see my friends, is there any work that needs to be done?"

"Uh, no… Go ahead…" Byakuya said with a stare at the two.

"Thank you, Captain," Kenkou said respectfully in a bow. Renji bowed as well and they both walked out.

"This Kenkou may be the second coming, but he'll pay for being so disrespectful to me at the first chance I get…"


	13. Squad 13

Kenkou appeared at the barracks of the Thirteenth Squad after flash stepping all the way from Sixth Squad's. "Man, what's taking him so long?" Kenkou said, folding his arms and tapping his foot.

Renji appeared at the right of Kenkou, panting. "Damn, when did you get so fast, kid?" Renji said while doubled over, trying to catch his breath.

"Last year. Yamamoto helped me out," Kenkou said with a smile.

"Heh, figures."

Renji knocked on the giant door of the 13th Squad's campus and a guard from above shouted, "Who goes there!"

"Renji Abari: vice-captain of the Sixth Squad!"

"And Kenkou Martinez, apprentice to Commander Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryuusai!"

"Yamamoto has no such apprentice, young one! I will not permit you to enter!" the guard exclaimed.

Kenkou smiled, and then flash stepped to where the guard was standing. The guard jumped back and held his two pronged staff towards Kenkou. "Stay back, boy! I don't want to have to use this," the guard sneered. Kenkou scoffed at him and flash stepped to break his staff in two and back hand karate chopped the back of the guard's neck, knocking him out.

He then flashed behind the door and opened it from the inside. Renji gave him a look of disapproval.

"What?" Kenkou asked.

"You didn't need to do that, kid," Renji snickered.

"It was fun anyway," Kenkou smiled and they proceeded to walk towards that main barracks of the 13th Squad.

Renji and Kenkou entered the barracks and immediately bumped into the Captain of the 13th Squad: Juushirou Ukitake. Renji bowed and said, "Greetings, Captain. We've come to see Rukia Kuchiki."

"That's great! She could use a visitor. And who's your young friend, Renji?" Ukitake asked with a pleasant smile.

"This is Kenkou Martinez. He's in an apprenticeship with Commander Yamamoto."

Kenkou bowed and said, "Pleased to meet you, Captain."

"And you'll probably be hearing about one of your guards being knocked out later, Captain," Renji said in an apologetic tone.

"Why's that, Renji?"

"It's because of Kenkou here. He took it upon himself to knock the guard out after he wouldn't grant him entrance. My guess is because he's never heard of being an apprentice to any captain, let alone Commander Yamamoto himself."

"You could be right. I'll take a look into it and make sure he doesn't make the same mistake again," the Captain said.

"Don't you have anything to say, Kenkou?" Renji nudged Kenkou in a suggestive manner.

"Nope! He just shouldn't have been so rude. Just like your Captain, Renji," Kenkou said smirking with a condescending tone.

"Yeah, Byakuya can get like that. He is from one of the four noble houses of the Soul Society," Ukitake said with eyes closed and his hand behind his back.

"That still doesn't give him any right to be so prude!"

"Stop talking about my Captain like that, Kenkou!" Renji interjected.

"….he's still too pompous," said Kenkou under his breath.

"Sorry, Captain, he's from America. Land of the free and whatnot…." Renji said bowing.

"It's fine. He sees everyone as equal and I agree with him there: your birth in a certain circle shouldn't put you above anyone else—Yamamoto taught Shunsui and I that," Captain Ukitake said in a calm tone.

"You were an apprentice to Commander Yamamoto too?" Kenkou inquired with wide eyes.

"No, he was more of a teacher than our master. How's your apprenticeship under Yamamoto doing?" said Ukitake.

"It's going very well! I took out your guard with ease, so that has to be a gauge of how far along I am."

"That it is, Kenkou, that it is. Well, I don't keep you any longer from Rukia. She should be down the hall in my office completing some paperwork. Good to meet you Kenkou." Ukitake bowed slightly and both Kenkou and Renji bowed back."I'll see you later as well, Renji."

"Likewise, Captain." Renji and Kenkou walked down the hall to Captain Ukitake's office and found Rukia nearly buried in paperwork.

"Whoever's there, I'm dreadfully busy and I need to get all of this done." Rukia continued through the mountains of papers without even a glance up at who was at the door.

"You can't even take a minute to say hello to an old friend, Rukia?" Rukia stopped suddenly and walked out from behind the desk around the papers.

"Renji!" Rukia went over and gave Renji a hug. "Sorry about that, the Thirteenth Squad's been purifying a lot of souls lately, both hollows and pluses, and we have a lot of paperwork to show for it," said Rukia while breaking away from Renji.

"It's fine, the Soul Society gets like that sometimes. This is my friend Kenkou Martinez; he's been training with Yamamoto for four years now."

"Pleased to meet you," Kenkou said bowing.

"Same here, Kenkou," Rukia bowed back, "I'm Rukia Kuchiki, an unseated officer of the Thirteenth Squad."

"Wait: Rukia Kuchiki? Are you Byakuya's sister?" Kenkou asked.

"Yeah, I'm his sister, why do you ask?"

"How can you stand him? He's so arrogant!"

"That's my brother you're talking about! You better watch it."

"Just because he's of a 'noble house' doesn't give him the right to talk down to anyone, I don't care if I am younger!"

"Kenkou, we've talked about this before: keep your temper," Renji said in a scolding tone.

"Fine, fine…" Kenkou said in a reluctant tone.

"Rukia, why don't you come with us to pick up Momo and Izuru so we can all hang out?" Renji asked.

"Can't, Renji, don't you see all the paperwork that's on the desk? I need to get it all done by next month, if I'm lucky," Rukia said while giving the desk and its paperwork an evil glare.

"Well, if you get a free moment, come find us, ok?" Renji said, making his way to the door.

"Sure Renji. And it was nice to meet you, Kenkou. Just be sure to hold your tongue about my brother."

"Yes, ma'am…" Kenkou agreed reluctantly.

"Good, now off with the both of you! I can't be held from my duties any longer!"

"Yes, ma'am!" both Renji and Kenkou said in unison. The both bolted out the door in fright while Rukia smiled and thought, _it's good to be me._


	14. A Piece of the Puzzle

Nemu walked around the Grand Library towards the oldest section. On the way, she bumped into another Soul Reaper that had on the standard kimono outfit, but wore glasses over her brown eyes and her black hair in a bun that was tied tightly with a clump of hair sticking upward. The giant book that she was holding fell with a loud thud Nemu immediately helped the Soul Reaper up. "I'm so sorry, Nanao," Nemu said in a quiet voice while picking up the giant book.

"Oh, it's fine, Nemu. I should've watched where I was walking." Nanao got up, brushed herself off and received the book back from Nemu.

"Thanks, Nemu."

"Oh, it's no problem at all. Why are you in the historic section of the Grand Library, Nanao?"

"I was reading an old story here and there, just passing the time. Not much goes on with the ranked officers of the Eighth Squad, so I just come here to read. Why are you here?" Nanao asked in a curious voice.

"Well, I'm here for research for my captain and the Commander. Do you know where I'd find something that incorporates: human, soul reaper, kidou, and a time frame of about five to ten thousand years ago?"

"That's some strange and specific material you're looking for. Luckily, I was reading a story about such a case about a week ago." Nanao smiled with pride at being one in the know of what Nemu was looking for.

"Really!? What's it about?" Nemu's eyes opened wide with curiosity and accomplishment.

"There was once a man who was born human, but received his soul reaper abilities as a human." Nanao and Nemu walked down the corridor of books towards the most ancient part of the library. "This human possessed power beyond the commander of that era and stronger still than Yamamoto today. He could wipe out hollows with the flinch of his eyebrow—he was that powerful."

"Wow! Amazing guy!" Nemu exclaimed as Nanao blew the dust off the section that held the book they were looking for.

"This is it: _The Only Human Soul Reaper._ I guess that title's out dated?" Nanao smirked at Nemu and she smiled that the joke she made. Nanao pulled the book from the shelf, wiped it clean of the dust, and cracked it open. "For something I read last week, it collected dust very quickly," Nanao said, surprised, "This end of the Library is quite old, so it probably happens all the time," Nemu added, looking at the book with Nanao.

Nanao began to flip the pages since the book was in chronological order. "Why do you need to know about Kidou, of all things, about this person?" Nanao asked.

"That's what Commander Yamamoto asked for, so I'm getting the information for him. Captain Kurotsuchi asked the Commander as to why, but was shot down and said that all will be revealed in due time." Nemu said, looking down as if depressed.

"That's the Commander: so secretive… Here it is!" Nanao shouted and pointed at the book. "Sendatsu learned and mastered all one through ninety-nine original destructive and binding arts within ten years and unleashed them with ease against any and all hollows that threatened him, the innocent or his fellow soul reapers," Nanao read aloud from the book.

"Wow, tough guy. I guess that's what Yamamoto wanted looked up. Well, now I have to get back to my Captain with this information so he can then relay it to the Commander. Thank you so much, Nanao." Nemu bowed with much gratitude.

"Oh, it's no problem at all. I can't wait to see how this information benefits the Commander. Oh, and take the book just in case. You don't want to have to come back each time you need a new piece of information, right?" Nanao handed the book to Nemu and smiled. Nemu smiled back and hugged Nanao. "Now, now, you need to be getting back, Nemu." Nemu pulled away and smiled once more and ran towards the exit. "She's far too nice to be put through the tortures that Captain Kurotsuchi puts her through…" Nanao said with one hand on her hip and the other hand holding her heavy book…

…Renji and Kenkou appeared at the front of the Third Squad's headquarters and Renji knocked on the gate. "Who goes there?" A guard bellowed from above.

"Renji, Vice-Captain of Squad Six and this is my friend, Kenkou," Renji yelled in reply.

"Very well, enter!" The gates opened up and Renji and Kenkou walked in.

"Man, that was so much easier than the Thirteenth Squad's gate, Renji," Kenkou said as they walked in.

"Each squad is more or less relaxed about rules and regulations. The Third Squad is probably the most relaxed with the Tenth and Eleventh squads right behind them," Renji said, looking around for his friend, Izuru Kira. As they walked into the main barracks of the Third Squad, they were met by a medium height soul reaper with purple hair, nearly non-existent eyes and the captain's white overcoat over his standard kimono.

"Why hello there, Renji, I didn't know you were going to stop by here today," the Captain said with an eerie smile.

"Hey, Captain Ichimaru, is Izuru anywhere around here?" Renji asked, not making eye contact with the captain. Kenkou felt the temperature drop by 15 degrees when Captain Ichimaru opened his mouth. He shivered in his sandals and grew angry at the discomfort he was experiencing.

"But who's your friend here, Renji? You didn't even make us acquainted!" Ichimaru got down on one knee and placed his skinny, claw like right hand on Kenkou's head to show friendliness, but Kenkou only got colder and he wanted to strike at the captain more and more each second.

"Sorry, Captain, this is Kenkou. He's a friend of mine and he's been training with Commander Yamamoto for four years now," Renji said, looking at Ichimaru and Kenkou, feeling like he should help Kenkou escape but the situation presented no threat. "And Kenkou, this is Gin Ichimaru: captain of the Third Squad."

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Kenkou," Gin said while rubbing Kenkou's short, curly black hair.

"You reek of death, Captain…" Kenkou said with a tone of fear and anger.

"My my, what an imagination you have, little boy," Gin sneered at Kenkou as the rubbing became a slightly tight grip. Kenkou snapped and the whole of his eyes went black and he right uppercut Gin and sent him flying down the hall.

"Kenkou! What was that for?!" Renji screamed. "You're lucky that no one else saw that otherwise we'd both be in big trouble!" The captain laid there unconscious as Kenkou and Renji stood over him. "Wow, you really gave it to him, Kenkou," Renji said nervously.

"I didn't mean it, I kinda snapped. It got really uncomfortable in here when he put his hand on me and I could smell innocent lives on him," Kenkou said a little under his breath.

"It's fine. Let's just go to the Vice-Captain and everything will be fine," Renji said, walking away from Kenkou.

"Yes, sir. Wait up!" Kenkou ran up to Renji and they flash stepped to the Vice-Captain's quarters.

Each squad's headquarters was different from the last in floor planning and with this squad; the vice-captain's quarters were near the other ranked officers. Unlike Renji's squad's barracks where the vice-captain's office was conjoined with the captain's office to show unity among the captain and vice-captain, the Third Squad's floor plan was based on allowing the lower seats to get along with each other and having the Captain put above all else. Renji and Kenkou reached the vice-captain's headquarters and Renji banged on the door. "Hey Kira! Get your ass out here!" Renji screamed.

A soul reaper who stood as tall as Renji with blonde hair that was flipped over his left eye slid the door open and said, "Oh, hey Renji, what're you doing here?" The Soul Reaper's thin features and fearful look about him screamed 'weakness' to Kenkou, but he understood that this Soul Reaper was a vice-captain for a reason.

"Hey, Izuru, this is my friend Kenkou; he's taking a break from his training and I'm bringing him along with me as I see my old friends," Renji said, looking at Kenkou out of the corner of his eye.

"Please to make your acquaintance, Vice-Captain Izuru," Kenkou said in a bow.

"As am I, Kenkou," Kira bowed back and said, "And you don't need to be so formal all the time, Kenkou—we're all soul reapers here," Kira smiled.

"Oh, ok. And how is your name's order, Izuru Kira or Kira Izuru?" Kenkou asked.

"It's Izuru Kira," Izuru said waiving Kenkou and Renji to come in to his office. "So, what can I do for you, Renji?" Izuru asked sitting down at his desk.

"Do you have any free time, Izzy?"

"I'm all for relaxed speech, but that's a bit much, Renji. And yeah, I'm free now; my paperwork just got finished not ten minutes ago."

"You wanna come with us to go see Momo? I bet you haven't had a day to relax with anyone outside of your squad for a while now," Renji said, throwing himself in a chair.

"Well, you might be right. I guess I can squeeze out some 'hang' time," Izuru smiled as he took a sign out from the drawer that had a string attached to it.

"Great! It's settled then. Now let's head on over to the Fifth Squad to get Momo and we'll all relax in the first Rukongai," Renji said, throwing himself up. Kenkou remained silent through the whole thing, feeling a bit out of place and thinking that saying nothing will help avoid making any mistakes or offenses.

"Sure, Renji, let me just put this sign up," Izuru walked over to the front door, slid it open again and hung the sign on an empty peg—it read: 'Will return later. If the concern is urgent, please direct it to Captain Ichimaru, Izuru Kira.'

Izuru, Renji, and Kenkou exited the building and flash stepped to the entrance of the Third Squad since the Fifth squad was so near, they walked the few miles instead of flash stepping and they took in the great weather.

…Hours later, Ichimaru woke up dazed and confused. "What just happened? Who hit me…" At that, he had a flash back to when he met Kenkou and Renji and the punch that he couldn't dodge. "That kid was amazingly fast," Gin felt inside his mouth pulled out two loose incisors and a bottom fang, "and strong! He may prove useful to Cap'n Aizen when everything's said and done." Gin got up, went to his quarters, and lay down on his bed to have a good night's sleep.


	15. A Day Off For Everyone

Nemu ran down a long hall and stopped at a closed door. There was so sign so she proceeded to knock. "WHO GOES THERE!" Captain Kurotsuchi yelled while he was completely absorbed into his computer.

"It's me, Captain, I brought the information Commander Yamamoto requested," Nemu said in her naturally quiet tone. Captain Kurotsuchi pushed a button on the keyboard and Nemu walked in as the door slid open.

"So, Nemu, what did you find?" Mayuri shouted as he was typing away as one window after another opened or closed on the screen.

"Well, it seems as though that there was one human about ten thousand years ago that joined our ranks while he was still alive. There's no record of his origin though," Nemu placed the book on the top of the console to her captain's left side.

"And?" Mayuri turned to Nemu and looked up at her. He wore a white lab coat that covered a well toned body, but his hands were white from end to end with dark blue fingernails. On his right hand, his middle finger's fingernail extended to about six inches, but no one knows what function is has. His neck and face were also white, but a circle that encompasses from the lower edge of his upper lip to one inch below his hairline. He also has a small, gold cone that resembled the hat of the 1980's band Devo on his chin and one of each where his ears should be. The top of his head came to a strange hat that is round on the left side of his head, but extends a foot to his right side.

"Well, according to this book, that soul reaper, Sendatsu, learned the original one hundred binding and destructive arts," Nemu opened the book and flipped to a page that showed Sendatsu using a destructive kidou.

"So, you mean that the Soul Society went through an evolution of kidou in the past? I'll check your research." Mayuri turned back to his keyboard and punched a series of keys and a screen popped up with text with a few pictures sprinkled about.

"Hmm. It says here: five thousand years ago, all soul reapers had to undergo a reform of kidou because the previous spells were far too powerful to use in the world of the living. Too many civilian casualties can do that to an army, no matter what kind it is. There's actually an instruction manual on how to learn those original one hundred spells from each category—here's the print out." Mayuri turned to his right and watched the printer spit out page after page of the manual, with each sheet of paper being printed on both sides. The manual contained 210 letter size pages and Mayuri used a large stapler to bind the pages together.

"Here, Nemu, take it to Yamamoto and remind him that I have to see the fruits of his labors as pay back," Mayuri turned around and threw the booklet at Nemu and she caught it against her body.

"Will do, Captain," Nemu picked up the history text off of the console, bowed, and ran out the room with both books pressed against her chest.

Renji, Izuru, and Kenkou walked up to the Fifth Squad's headquarters after flash stepping most of the way. Renji took the initiative and knocked on the gate. After knocking, a guard bellowed from above, "Who goes there!"

"Renji Abarai, Izuru Kira, and Kenkou Martinez!"

"I've never heard of any 'Kenkou', which squad is he from?"

"He's been training with Commander Yamamoto for the past four years."

"Oh, I've heard of him from the Captain. Ok, come on in," the gate opened and the two soul reapers and the soul reaper in-training walked through.

"That is probably the easiest gate we've gotten through today," Renji said as they walked towards the main building.

"Yeah, the Thirteenth Squad was very strict and I had to take out the guard so we could get in," Kenkou said with a wide grin.

"You did what? I think Yamamoto wouldn't have approved of that, Kenkou," Izuru said with a shocked face as they continued to walk.

"It's not like I killed the poor guy, I only knocked him out. Maybe for a few days, but I knocked him out." They all shared a laugh as Captain Aizen walked across them. "Hey Souske, how've you been?" Kenkou said with a huge smile.

"Kenkou! I've been well, thank you. What're you, Renji, and Izuru doing on my campus?"

"Well, Renji thought I should meet some of his friends and we all have a fun day off from our duties. That, and Yamamoto got lost on how to teach me kidou."

"I see. Well, who are you here to see?"

"We're here to see Momo, Captain," said Renji.

"Momo should be on the training grounds in the back of the campus. How's your training going, Kenkou?"

"It's so awesome! I can't believe the things that all of you soul reapers do, and now I can do them better!" Kenkou continued to smile.

"What has the Commander taught you so far?"

"Well, he's taught me how to take strikes, counter them, be offensive, helped me master flash steps, and he taught me how to focus my reiatsu and sensing abilities."

"Amazing! He's taught you well over these years, as he did with Shunsui and Juushirou: his previous pupils from many, many years ago."

"Thank you, Souske," Kenkou bowed.

"Well, I don't want to keep you any longer, go and see Momo. She hasn't had any down time for about three years, if I've kept count correctly."

"Thanks, Captain," Renji said. Renji, Kenkou, and Izuru bowed to Captain Aizen, and he back, and they walked away to the training grounds. _His power is focused like a honed blade. He's already dangerous as of now, but the more he learns, the more useful he'll be to me_, Aizen thought.

Renji opened the door to the training grounds and let himself in. "Do you have any manners!" Momo threw a wooden practice sword, or bokken, at Renji's head and it landed square in his face. When the bokken dropped, there was a red mark where the bokken's hilt butt landed on his face.

"Nice to see you too, Momo…" Renji said while in agonizing pain.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry Renji. I didn't see you, I just knew someone was there," Momo ran over to Renji and hugged him apologetically. Momo was fairly short and had her black hair wrapped in a covered bun on the back of her head. Her brown eyes and pale face showed that she was in eternal pain, but she was happy to see Renji.

"By the way, Izuru's here too," Renji said while hugging Momo back.

"Hey, Izzy, how are you?" Momo turned to Izuru and he gave her an annoyed look.

"Do you really have to call me that, Momo…?"

"Of course I do. You're Izzy!" Izuru rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance, but smiled at the same time since he knew it was her nature to call him that. "And who's your little friend?"

Momo let go of Renji and walked over to Kenkou and bent down to his level since he was shorter than her five foot, three inch tall figure.

"I'm Kenkou Martinez, apprentice to Commander Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryuusai. Pleased to make your acquaintance," Kenkou bowed respectively.

"Well, I'm Momo Hinamori, vice-captain of the Fifth Squad. The pleasure is all mine, Kenkou," Momo bowed back, but only slightly compare to the deep bow that Kenkou gave her.

"Damn it, kid, why do you have to be so formal? This is a day of relaxation!" Renji walked over and punched Kenkou on the crown of his head and Kenkou grabbed his head from the blow.

"Hey, man, I wasn't ready!"

"You weren't supposed to be, kid."

"Don't you think we should be going somewhere to enjoy the weather?" Izuru interjected.

"We're already outside, but ok. Where do you wanna go?" Momo said.

"How about Sougyoku Hill?" Kenkou suggested.

"Isn't that the execution grounds? Why would you want to relax up there?" Izuru asked.

"When I'm not training with my master up there, it's a pretty tranquil place to be. The wind is constant, but light, and the view from there is really cool," Kenkou said.

"It's settled: we'll all go to Sougyoku Hill," Renji proclaimed pointing at the hill.

"Last one there's a rotten egg!" Kenkou pointed his pinky at Sougyoku Hill, shot a small ball of energy at it and disappeared into thin air.

"Not fair!" Renji yelled and flash stepped towards the Hill with Izuru and Momo behind him.


	16. Kidou 101

Kenkou arrived at Sougyoku Hill and looked over the edge to view some of the Rukongai from above. He then extended his left hand above his head and collected the energy shot that he shot earlier back into his hand. "Good of you to join me, guys," Kenkou said with his hand still outstretched. Renji, Izuru, and Momo appeared, all of them out of breath.

"Man, how can you flash step so quickly?" Renji yelled while panting.

"Yamamoto has trained me well over the years," Kenkou gave a proud grin at Renji.

"Yeah, yeah, we know, we know…"

Renji, Momo, and Izuru finally caught their breath and stood up and looked out over the whole of the Soul Society. "Wow, I understand why you wanted us to come out here—it's beautiful," said Momo with her hands on her chest.

"Yeah, my master and I train here every day for about four hours a day, maybe more on weekends. It's a great place to center one's self after fighting for long periods of time," Kenkou walked next to Momo.

Renji and Izuru walked over to the edge where Kenkou and Momo are standing and Renji placed his right hand on Kenkou's head. "Yeah, it's a sight to behold. So, you never got the chance to tell us about you, Kenkou."

"Well, I'm nine years old now and I've been training with Master Yamamoto for four years. He's a great teacher; he tries not to limit me too much and he wants to see what I can do. I have a younger brother and his name is Jiriki, but he doesn't have any powers. I wish he did so he could play with Master and I," Kenkou sat on the edge of the Hill, kicking his heels against the bluff in boredom.

"How old is Jiriki?" Izuru asked. The rest of the gang sat down and looked upon the Seireitei and its beauty.

"My brother's seven now, and even though we're full blood brothers, he hasn't shown any progress to be anything like me," Kenkou said with his head buried in his chest in disappointment.

"Well, he might just not have any abilities or even be a Soul Reaper," Izuru replied.

"Or he could just be weak," Renji interjected.

"Renji! Mind your manners!" Momo smacked Renji in the back of his head and he held his head to defend a possible onslaught by Momo.

"It's fine, guys, he just may not be destined for greatness. It'd be awesome if he was as strong as me so we could spar." Everyone calmed down and they continued to look at the Seireitei.

"Have you always been able to see spirits?" Momo asked.

"I have, but they were a little transparent and I didn't see a hollow until Renji was getting tossed around by one," Kenkou looked at Renji with a look of blame.

"Hey, I was handling myself just fine four years ago!" Renji defended himself.

"Don't worry Renji. If you're weak, we'll just recommend that you be demoted within the Sixth Squad," Izuru commented.

"What'd you say, Izzy? I can and will take you down in a sword battle just like the Academy if you want to." Renji and Izuru stood up and pressed their foreheads against each other with a want of battle in each other's eyes. Kenkou then stood up and knocked back Renji with a right, open hand and kicked Izuru up into the air with a back left kick—all without much exertion.

"Oh my…" Momo looked up at the flying Izuru in amazement of the sheer strength and control that Kenkou had.

Renji flash stepped back to where Kenkou hit him and yelled, "What was that for?!" Before Kenkou could reply, Izuru fell on Renji with a loud boom and Kenkou just smiled. "I'm starting to regret finding you kid…" Renji said with squinted eyes of annoyance.

Momo giggled and held her mouth while doing so. As Kenkou's smile grew since he made a funny, Yamamoto appeared and looked down upon everyone and they all just felt guilt rush over them. _Oh man, I've done it now._ Kenkou thought.

"It's good that you've had time to relax, but we must resume our training. We only have about two hours before you must return home. Momo, Renji, Izuru, you are all dismissed. Kenkou will see you all in a few more years when he is able to hunt hollow actively." Yamamoto's deep voice commanded respect from the three vice-captains and they all stood up, bowed and flash stepped back to their respective squads.

Kenkou looked out at the Seireitei as if to say goodbye to his friends. He then turned back to Yamamoto, bowed, and sat down on his legs. He looked at Yamamoto and he was carrying a large book in his right arm. "What's with the book, Master?"

"This book contains the guidelines of the next stage of your training."

"Kidou is the next stage of your training: it consists of focusing you're your reiatsu into different forms of attack and defensive, or binding, spells. We shall begin with the Way of Destruction spells, or Hadou. Are you ready?"

"Yes, Master, I'm ready to be stronger."

"Good. Now, get up and follow my instructions."

Yamamoto opened up the book to the middle of it and flipped a few more pages to get to the correct spot. Kenkou stood up, ready to receive more of his training. "Now, point your hand at a ninety degree angle to your body towards the horizon. Then, face your palm out and tuck your thumb inside your palm with your other for fingers erect."

Kenkou did as he was told by his Master.

"Now, gather your reiatsu into your whole body, then into your hand."

Kenkou focused his energy into his outstretched left palm, waiting for the next instructions.

"Now cry out: hadou one; red shot of fire!"

"Hadou one," the energy went from his hand to form a red ball of energy the size of a baseball into the center of his palm, creating a heat that felt dangerously hot, but invitingly warm to Kenkou at the same time, "red shot of fire!" The ball of energy screamed out of his hand at an incredible rate of speed towards the horizon.

"Good, Kenkou, you learn very quickly. Now for the second Destructive Art—follow my commands once more." Yamamoto looked to the book for directions of the next spell. "Now, let's turn to the petrified forest for targets on this next spell." Yamamoto and Kenkou turned to the forest at the other side of the Sougyoku Hill. "Point your finger to the sky and keep focusing your reiatsu and repeat after me: hadou two, soul piercing arrow."

Kenkou focused his energy into his right pointer finger which was outstretched towards the sky and said, "Hadou two," an arrow materialized above his finger, "soul piercing arrow!" Kenkou threw the arrow towards a tree and it pierced right through it as well as five others after it and was stuck half way through the sixth tree in the order. "Now that's cool!" After Kenkou lost his focus on the arrow, it disappeared into nothingness as easily as it was created.

Yamamoto flipped the page and said, "Like your Red Shot of Fire spell, create the same hand gesture as before and aim for the horizon." Kenkou nodded and did as he was told, but with his right hand now. "Good. Now, once again: hadou three, red fire crash down."

Kenkou nodded once more and repeated, "Hadou three: red fire crash down!" And from nothingness, a mass of fire, the size of a watermelon, shot from his hand into the distance. Smoke arose from the center of his palm as he turned to look into it. "Now that was awesome! I love fire!"

"Let us continue. In the same angle as your first and third Destructive spells, point out your two fingers." Kenkou followed to the 'T' of what Yamamoto wanted. "This spell is: hadou four: shock."

Kenkou focused his reiatsu into his two fingers and said, "Hadou four: shock!" At that, a massive net of thin lightning bolts shot from his hand and within the same second, disappeared without a trace.

"Now let us face the forest again. Spread your body out evenly with your arms down, but not on your body." Kenkou made the shape of a star with his body, but his legs were only spread a couple of feet apart and his hands were down, palms out, at a 45 degree angle to his body. "Once more, hadou five: one hundred flying stars."

"Hadou four," 100 shuriken materialized around Kenkou and they each began to spin, "one hundred flying stars!" Instinctually, Kenkou brought together his hands in front of himself at a 90 degree angle and the shuriken flew at the forest, sticking into any piece of tree they could find. "This is getting better and better, master!"

"I'm glad you like this, but let's at least get to ten spells today."

"Yes, master."

"Now, with either of your arms, prep the arm as if it would be a sword swing." Kenkou nodded and cocked his right arm in a diagonal across his chest with his fingers elongated as if his own arm was the blade of a sword. Yamamoto read the next passage and said, "After you say this next spell, just throw your arm towards the forest: hadou six, scratching breeze."

Kenkou's energy flowed through his entire body as he said, "Hadou six: scratching breeze!" As he threw his arm and made an arc with it to his right, a strong gust of wind shot off of his arm and howled towards the forest. As the wind permeated through the petrified forest, pieces of bark tore off of each tree and a slew of nicks and cuts were etched into each tree the wind hit. "Nice, what's next?"

Yamamoto turned the page and said, "Now stomp the ground and say: hadou seven. Then when the rock comes up, punch it forward and say: stone's throw."

"Hadou seven!" Kenkou stomped with his right foot with his right fist guiding above his foot and a rock the size of beach ball shoots out of the ground and levitates at the same level that Kenkou's fist is pointed at. "Stone's throw!" Kenkou shifted his body and punched the rock with his left hand with all of his might and it flew off into the distance.

"Next! Point a finger out, and say: hadou eight, energy shot."

Kenkou pointed his right index finger and said, "Hadou eight: energy shot!" A ball of white energy no smaller than a pea appeared at the end of his finger and fired off into the distance leaving a trail of white energy at his finger.

"Next is hadou nine: energy fusion. Just take your weak arm, focus the energy and say the spell." Kenkou nodded once more shot his right hand out perpendicular to the right side of his body and said, "Hadou nine: energy fusion!" Kenkou's right arm began to glow white and he clenched his fist, bring it closer to his body. "This is hadou number nine? My arm feels twice as strong as it did before!" When Kenkou turned to look at his master, Yamamoto flash stepped to Kenkou's side and was coming down with a sword slash. Kenkou blocked it with his right arm, but the blade almost cracked with the hardness of the block.

Yamamoto jumped back, looked at his blade and said, "The nine series of your Hadou will prove quite powerful when you're adequately trained."

"Uh, thanks, Master?" Kenkou scratched his head.

"These first nine Destructive Arts are to be the basis for all of your later hadou. One will become eleven, then twenty-one, then thirty-one, and so on in order for greater strength—understand?"

"Yes, master, but what of hadous ten, twenty, thirty…?"

"Those, my apprentice, are special, single spell Arts. Those moves have a great amount of power and I don't believe that you should know any of them just yet. You have a year, don't worry."

"Yes, master."

Kenkou and Yamamoto continued their training for the day with one spell being mastered after another of the first nine. For the next year, Kenkou would fire off and harness the power of each destructive and binding art until all that laid ahead of him were the defeat of the other twelve captains so he could prove his worth to Commander Yamamoto…


	17. Ikioi: The Gift

Kenkou back-somersault kicked Yamamoto and launched him a few hundred feet into the air. Yamamoto grabbed the air around him and he slowed to a stop and threw out his left hand, palm out and thumb within the palm, and bellowed, "HADOU THIRTY-THREE!"

Kenkou saw his master was prepping for a kidou strike and he flash stepped above him, faced down towards him and said calmly, "Hadou eighty-three: infinite white firestorm." Kenkou punched a barrage of white fire blasts at Yamamoto, and all he could do was block all the way down to the summit of Sougyoku Hill. At the end of the barrage, Kenkou launched a giant fire crescent with a somersault kick and watched the entire area it hit become scorched in flames. He then flash stepped to the ground roughly 70 feet away from Commander Yamamoto and yelled, "Had enough, Master?"

When the smoke began to clear, Yamamoto replied, "Nowhere near it, child." Yamamoto pointed his left index finger straight at Kenkou's head and said, "Hadou four: white lightning!" The energy bolt screamed out of the end of the finger, but the millisecond before it touched Kenkou, he flash stepped behind Yamamoto and right roundhouse kicked him square in his head. He tumbled away and prepped for another kidou shot, but Kenkou was almost complete with his next move.

"Hadou seventy-eight: energy beam!" A beam of white energy about six feet in diameter screamed out of his hand and since Kenkou was only five feet, two inches tall at 10 years old, it also tore through the ground like a field plow with a rocket engine on it. Knowing that his bare hands couldn't contain the blast, Yamamoto drew his sword and blocked the beam with it.

He grunted and fought the beam all he could with his unreleased zanpakutou, but he was pushed to the end of the Hill. "Reduce the world to smoldering ashes: Ryuujin Jakka." The blade of Yamamoto's sword became engulfed in flames and the beam was easier to hold, but he knew that cutting it would be useless since Kenkou was still pouring his reiatsu into it. _Since I can't cut it…_ Yamamoto threw up his blade and the beam redirected towards the sky. Kenkou let go of the beam and an explosion, 1000 feet up, rocked the whole of the Soul Society. As Yamamoto looked down from the magnificent explosion, he saw Kenkou point his index and middle fingers on his right hand at him and Yamamoto readied to swing his sword.

"Bakudou sixty-one: luminous six bar prison" Kenkou commanded. Though Yamamoto was 300 feet away, six blades of energy, resembling planks of wood, came together at Yamamoto's stomach and forced him to keel forward.

"Very good," Yamamoto coughed out.

Kenkou flash stepped in front of his master, jabbed the same two fingers he used previously on Yamamoto's forehead and whispered in his master's ear, "Hadou eighty-four," Yamamoto's jaw dropped and fear came over his entire body, "lightning storm." Kenkou pointed the fingers away from Yamamoto to the sky and branches upon branches of lightning shot out of Kenkou's fingers. He then snapped with his right hand and the binding spell dissipated.

Yamamoto kneeled on the ground, catching his breath and said, "Ok, you got me—now stop laughing."

Kenkou was on the floor, rolling around with laughter. "You should've seen your face, master! IT WAS GOLDEN!!" Yamamoto sheathed his sword, got to his feet and his cane manifested itself over the sword once more. With the cane, he walked over to Kenkou and kicked him, lifting him into the air. Yamamoto smiled as Kenkou landed face first into the ground a few feet away. "Ok, ok, maybe it wasn't so funny," Kenkou said with his face still in the ground.

The wind blew softly over Sougyoku Hill on this warm October afternoon. Yamamoto's white beard waved in the wind, but Kenkou's short black hair just stood as it was. Kenkou looked in Yamamoto's right hand and saw a sheathed sword in it. "Hey Master, what's that in your hand?" Kenkou pointed to his master's right side.

"This is your zanpakutou. Since you have not been able to manifest one on your own, I had this one made up specifically for you," Yamamoto said while walking over to Kenkou.

The sword was in a blood red scabbard that had a silver decorative piece at the end of the scabbard that the zanpakutou didn't come out of—even the decorative cord, which was a fifth way down the sheath was of the same red. The hand guard was black from a zinc and iron mixture—dragons were emblazoned on both sides of the circular guard. The handle of the zanpakutou had a white, ray skin base that was wrapped in cotton with the same color as the sheath and the handle came to a cap that was the same color as the hand guard with the kanji for energy, ikioi, imprinted onto it.

Yamamoto handed the sword to Kenkou and he asked, "What's this funny shape on the bottom here mean?"

"It's the Japanese kanji for vigor, force, spirit, life, and energy—it's ikioi." Yamamoto put his hand on Kenkou's head and rubbed it as a loving father would.

"Every zanpakutou has a name, right Master?"

"Yes, they do my apprentice."

"Then this sword's name is Ikioi! It'll grant me power to defeat my enemies!" Kenkou drew the 40 inch long sword and pointed it towards the sky.

The collar of the zanpakutou, which was above the hand guard, was brass but gold in color and the blade itself was flawless. The vein of the blade reached from within the blade collar, all the way to two inches before the tip. The temper line, or the hamon, was uniform across the whole blade, but Kenkou felt the spirit that was poured into the zanpakutou, so it was handmade as all swords should be. The blade gleamed in the sunlight and Kenkou sheathed the sword.

"This is the best thing anyone's gotten me, Master. Thank you." Kenkou hugged Yamamoto with the sheathed sword in his right hand. Yamamoto hugged back with his left arm and rubbed Kenkou on the head.

"It's no problem at all, Kenkou. It's the least I can do since you'll be starting your field missions soon."

"You mean it?!"

"Yes, Kenkou, but I must test you first."

"How?" Yamamoto flash stepped behind Kenkou and came down with his zanpakutou. Kenkou reacted quickly and blocked with his new, sheathed sword. _I guess it was a dumb question…_

Kenkou's reiatsu gave the sword strength and the scabbard received no damage from the slash Yamamoto delivered. Holding the sheath with his right hand, he drew the sword with his left and slashed across Yamamoto's body, cutting through his captain's overcoat and kimono. Yamamoto jumped back a few feet and touched his abdomen where Kenkou slashed him. He saw the blood and smiled, "Ok, I see you're ready. You can either go home and await your next assignment, or choose a squad to assist in whatever duties that need to be completed—your choice, Kenkou."

Kenkou thought for a moment on which squad to stay with so he can show off his skills. _Renji was the one who found me, but Izuru looks like he needs a friend. Now I know! _"I wanna join the Fifth Squad! Captain Aizen was real nice when I met him and Momo was good to be around," Kenkou said ecstatically with a smile.

"Good decision, Kenkou. Now, go there until either you receive an assignment or it's time for you to go home. It's ten in the morning now, so keep an eye out for six tonight, you got that?"

Kenkou bowed and said, "Yes Master." Kenkou shot a small ball of energy above the Fifth Squad's headquarters and flash stepped to the midpoint of it, then above the headquarters and dropped to the front gate.

_You've earned this, Kenkou, and I'm very proud of what you've achieved in these five years,_ Yamamoto thought to himself as he flash stepped back to his own office in the First Squad's headquarters.


	18. Your Mission: Destory the Menos!

Kenkou crouched before the Fifth Squad's main gate and a guard noticed him from above. "Who goes there?" the guard barked.

"Kenkou Martinez, apprentice to Commander Yamamoto and now assistant to the Fifth Court Guard Squad. I require entrance to speak to Captain Souske Aizen and Momo Hinamori," Kenkou snapped back.

"Very well; you may enter."

The gate opened up and Kenkou walked through with his arms in each other's sleeves of his kimono and his new zanpakutou resting in his large, white belt, or obi, with the blade facing upwards as all katana are supposed to be worn. Kenkou made his way through the many soul reapers that populated the barracks and they all looked at the child soul reaper with the red sword. When he made it to the Captain's office, he met up with Momo before he knocked.

"Momo! Great, you're here. I need to speak with you, as well as your captain."

"What about, Kenkou?"

"Well, I'll tell you once we sit down with your captain, ok?"

Kenkou knocked on the door two times and Aizen said, "Come in," from the other side. Kenkou slid the door open and walked in with Momo. They both walked in and bowed in respect to Captain Aizen. "There's no need for the formalities, you two," Aizen smiled while flipping through some paperwork, not even glancing up to identify who was in his office.

Kenkou found a chair sitting in the corner of the room and placed it in front of Aizen's desk and motioned to have Momo sit in it. "Why thank you," Momo said in a chipper tone as she sat down.

Kenkou stood casually to the left of Souske, right of Momo and asked, "Commander Yamamoto has given me a choice to either wait at my home in the real world for my next hollow hunting assignment, or here within the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. And as such, I've decided to wait out the day with you two, here, within the Fifth Squad." Kenkou bowed in a pleading manner, awaiting Captain Aizen's decision.

After a few moments of pondering, Aizen replied, "I'll be more than honored to have you work with us for the rest of the day. Since you've had so much training with Yamamoto, where would you like to be added?"

"I was thinking to be alongside you and Vice-Captain Hinamori here to assist you in any tasks you need assisting with." Momo began to blush since she was usually never picked first in most things and nodded her head in thanks to the young Kenkou.

"I wouldn't see it any other way, Kenkou. Right now, you should help out Momo in her current duties since I have some paperwork here to complete. You two have fun, now." Momo got up from her seat and bowed to her captain, as did Kenkou. They walked out of the room, Momo first, and they walked with some pep in their steps down the hall. _His zanpakutou wasn't crying out for its name to be heard. Has he already obtained his Bankai at ten years old? This young man becomes more and more remarkable every time I see him_, Aizen thought.

Kenkou and Momo strolled to a beautiful garden with a small waterfall/koi pond combination at one end of it. The flowers were all opened, but the green within them was fading to brown since it was the fall and the heads of the flowers still held their shape and color. Kenkou inhaled deeply while they made their way to the pond and the combination of all the flowers made him at peace and he smiled at Momo.

"What is it?" Momo saw Kenkou smile at her.

"Oh, it's just the smell of the garden. I've never been to a garden like this before since I live in New York City," Kenkou replied, rubbing the back of his head with his left hand.

"I hear lots of things about New York City, and they have gardens within such a manmade place," Momo rebutted.

"I live within the borough of Queens and they have no such things around where I live." Kenkou looked into the koi pond and saw three orange and white koi, two rainbow colored koi, and one of each of black, white, and red koi fish.

"It's there, you just have to look," Momo smiled at Kenkou.

"Nothing's more beautiful than this here." Kenkou gently grasped Momo's hand and Momo said, "Kenkou…" in a gentle, worried tone.

Kenkou moved closer to Momo and reached up for a kiss, but was interrupted by a small, black butterfly with magenta edges on its wings. Kenkou stepped back and watched the pond as the butterfly sat on Momo's finger. Within the pond, he saw the black and white kois swim in a circle, and in tandem, around the red koi. As he stared at them 'dancing' with each other, he became dazed and walked ever so slowly towards the pond—the red koi seemed to be staring straight into Kenkou's eyes and a sudden flash of heat overwhelm his body.

Momo then woke him up from his trance by shaking his right shoulder with her left hand. "Kenkou! There's an issue within the Severing World! We've gotta go, now!"

"What was that butterfly?"

"That was a Hell Butterfly: it sends messages to all those who receive them and this one came from the Research Department since they're the ones watching the Severing World. We need to head to the main Senkai Gate as soon as possible."

Kenkou nodded and said, "Ok," and jumped on top of the tallest roof he could find. He felt the many soul reapers gather within one spot and shot a small energy ball from his right index finger to the sky that was over them. "Who's going to be there, if you don't mind me asking Momo?"

Momo flash stepped to the same roof top that Kenkou was on and replied, "Just the Fifth Squad."

_He thinks he's slick_, Kenkou thought to himself. "I'll race ya to the Senkai Gate!" And at that, Kenkou flash stepped to the midpoint, and arrived at the Gate almost instantaneously though it was two miles away.

Kenkou felt Momo approach as she flash stepped towards him and he held out his wrist as if to look at the time, but there was no watch. "What took you so long, Momo?" Kenkou sarcastically asked with a smile.

"Just because you trained with Commander Yamamoto doesn't mean you can rub it in my face!" Momo yelled while poking her finger into Kenkou's chest, harder and harder each time.

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry!" Kenkou and Momo were positioned in the front of the pack, but stood looking at the Senkai Gate like the rest of the squad.

Aizen appeared and walked from everyone's right to the center of the group, facing everyone. "Ok, Squad Five, there are reports of about twenty Menos Grande marching towards us within the Severing World! We must all stick together in groups of five and face the enemy with calmed nerves!" Aizen said loudly in his calm and reassuring voice.

The entire squad cheered in preparation for battle with their fists held high with the exception of Momo and Kenkou joining in the fun.

"Momo, Kenkou, you'll be with me as we face them, ok?" Both Momo and Kenkou nodded their heads and the Senkai Gate opened. As soon as it was opened, the entire squad of 350 members rushed in with Souske, Momo, and Kenkou leading the way.


	19. Mission Accomplished! Menos Obliterated

The bright white light of the Senkai Gate turned into a dark, wet, long hallway. The walls looked as if they were the insides of a creature and though the floor was hard enough to walk on, they were still a little slick to walk on. There was nothing but darkness ahead, but you could see the walls, the floor, but no more than 1000 feet ahead of you.

"Ok everyone, stay close together and try not to get yourselves killed!" Souske commanded as he looked ahead into the darkness.

The entire group ran straight ahead in an echelon formation with Captain Aizen leading them and Momo to his right, Kenkou on his left. Suddenly the Menos began appearing out of some branched corners and they all screamed in preparation of battle.

Momo placed her right hand on the hilt of her zanpakutou and screamed, "Ok, stick to the plan and we'll defeat—" Momo was cut off by her captain as he put his hand on the butt of her hilt.

"Actually, I just thought of something new, Momo," Aizen said calmly as the giant, hundred-foot tall marched forward towards the Fifth Squad.

"Let's have Kenkou here take care of the twenty Menos." A stunned look came over Momo's face and Kenkou took a step back and he became surprised as well.

"Are you sure, Captain? Aren't Menos Grande supposed to be the strongest Hollows anyone can face?" said Kenkou with a nervous sweat.

"You'll be fine, Kenkou. I feel your power and you should be more than capable to thwart these Menos," Aizen said, placing his large hand on Kenkou's head to give him confidence.

Kenkou stood up straight and smiled. "Thanks, Captain. You won't regret it." Kenkou bowed and turned to see the Menos approaching a little faster now.

"Ok everyone, just stay back and watch Kenkou, Yamamoto's apprentice. If he needs us, be ready!" Momo shouted back to the lower ranks.

_Say your prayers, Menos,_ Kenkou thought to himself.

Kenkou flash stepped in front of the face of the lead Menos, turned his zanpakutou so the curved sheath faced outward to his right, and drew the sword. The Menos's bone, white mask was twice as tall as Kenkou and it came to a long, pointy nose with three holes on each side of it towards the base of the nose. Like the other Menos, it had red eyes that were set back from the mask and a mouth that looked like a series of tall, rectangular teeth. The Menos's hole, which was standard for all hollows, but especially uniform for Menos Grande, was in the direct middle of the body and roughly 20 feet above the hole were a series of long, white spikes that circled horizontally around the Menos; each being around six feet in length, but no wider than three feet at the base.

Kenkou slashed downwards with only his left hand on the handle, right on the sheath. Once he slashed through the mask of the Menos Grande, it dissipated into nothingness. _Wow, this is easier than I thought! _Kenkou thought. He continued to flash step to each Menos's face and slashed them all one-handedly and they all did as the last Menos: dissipate into nothingness, save one. Kenkou landed on the ground with his sword in his left hand and his sheath in his right while it was in his kimono's belt.

The Menos then looked around, not seeing any of his buddies, and screamed at the top of its lungs. "That's right, buddy, you're the last one—any last words?" Kenkou said with an arrogant tone. The Menos then opened its mouth and a giant ball of red energy materialized just outside of its mouth and it began to grow larger as it gathered energy. "What the hell is that?!" Kenkou screamed back to Aizen.

"That's a Cero! Menos Grande have the ability to fire them off at will while lower grade hollows don't even have that ability available. Only those ranked vice-captain or higher can successfully block them!" Aizen replied with a bit of a worried tone.

"OK!" Kenkou sheathed his sword and increased his reiatsu level. As he did that, many of the Fifth Squad members, including Momo, fell to their knees from the amount of spiritual pressure Kenkou displayed—even Captain Aizen's breathing became labored. Bits of red energy stopped gathering into the Cero and the Menos fired it downward at Kenkou. Kenkou, only ten years old, thrust his hands at the beam of red energy and caught the blast which pushed hard against him. _Stronger than I thought! No matter_, he thought. Kenkou held the beam in front of him, but the force was so strong, the ground he stood on became a crater five feet in diameter. _How can the power of it be increasing? _His arms began to shake from fatigue as he held the beam stably. _Y'know what, screw it, it's just a Menos—forget going easy on it._

Kenkou's left hand went from grasping position to an erect one with his thumb tucked into his palm. "HADOU SEVENTY-ONE: WHITE SHOT OF FIRE!!" A ball of white energy covered in a white flame materialized and shot out of his hand, cancelling the beam in front of him. The Menos screamed again and began to create another Cero out of frustration.

Kenkou saw this and flash stepped above the Menos and brought down a left heel to the top of its head. The force of the kick cracked the mask around the area he kicked and he brought the Menos from its 100 foot tall stature, all the way into the ground. The loud crash gave way to a kick up of debris that blew at the Fifth Squad, which was right behind him.

_To bring a Menos Grande into the ground with only the force of his heel… He truly is remarkable,_ Aizen thought as he used his left arm to shield himself from the flying debris.

With the Menos's face buried into the ground, Kenkou extended his right arm downwards towards the Menos and said, "Hadou seventy-eight: energy beam."

A beam of white energy, twice the size of the Menos, screamed out of Kenkou's hand and continued on down the nearly infinitely long corridor, disintegrating the Menos which was encased in the beam. When the beam stopped, smoke emanated from the scorched ground that was within the blast, leaving nothing in its wake. Kenkou's arm relaxed and rested on the hilt of his zanpakutou as he walked back to the Fifth Squad, who was applauding at his theatrical handling of the Menos.

Momo was stunned at the demonstration of power that Kenkou put on for everyone to watch. _He's only ten years old and with five years of training from Commander Yamamoto, he was able to accomplish all of that?! He should either be a captain or take Commander Yamamoto's place this instant!_ Momo thought. As Momo's mouth hung wide open in shock, Aizen lifted his right hand, without looking, and shut Momo's mouth gently. She looked up to see her smiling captain as he said, "Well done, Kenkou. I didn't know you had such tricks in your bag. And I've never heard of hadous seventy-one and seventy-eight being such spells. Why are yours different from the rest of the Soul Society?"

Kenkou continued to walk towards Aizen and replied, "Since I was born human and I seem to have no traces of soul reapers within my bloodline, I have to rely on a different spell set. Well, at least when it comes to the destructive arts. Roughly ten thousand years ago, there was another pure human that became a soul reaper and he learned the original destructive and binding arts. Since, about five thousand years ago, the destructive kidou went under a revolution to provide weaker and more balanced attacks I couldn't use those spells. Yamamoto found the original ninety-nine destructive kidou and taught them to me by just reading out of a book. I picked them all up pretty easily within the first week or so of the training and the rest of the year was spent on mastering them, as well as the binding arts. I'm glad they didn't revise the binding arts—they're perfect the way they are."

"You've been able to surprise me every time we've met, Kenkou. Your bankai must be impressive."

"Actually, I don't have my bankai yet, nor my shikai or zanpakutou."

"How's that possible? You have a zanpakutou and it's silent."

Kenkou proceeded to walk away from the battlefield and continued, "Master Yamamoto made this katana for me since I haven't been able to manifest my zanpakutou just yet. It still allows me to defeat hollows and purify souls, according to him, but it has no shikai or bankai."

"I see. Well, you're still quite impressive without a true zanpakutou." _He has more potential than anyone I've ever seen! Seeing him achieve bankai will be the most impressive thing ever._

As soon as Captain Aizen said that, another group of Menos Grande appeared out of nowhere in the same area as the last group and they all screamed, ready for battle. "More?! There has to be about forty in this group!" Momo shouted, with her right hand on her zanpakutou, ready to draw it.

Kenkou stepped forward from the crowd, drew his zanpakutou once more and ran at the Menos that was in front of the rest of the pack. He stopped at the feet of it and it looked down and opened its mouth to shoot off a cero. Without looking up, Kenkou sliced the Menos from the bottom of its cloak through its head in one slice and it diffused into nothingness while it fell in its split form. Kenkou raised the katana above his head, preparing for a downward slash, and said, "HADOU EIGHTY-THREE: INFINITE WHITE FIRESTORM!!" He sliced from where he was in the air, all the way to the ground and created a 110-foot tall arc of white fire and it tore through the air towards the Menos.

He then brought the sword to his right side and horizontally slashed at an upwards angle at the distant Menos and another arc of white flame extended itself past his blade and grew in size and power as it screamed towards the Menos. The vertical and horizontal arcs of fire decimated anything they touched and they eventually slammed against each other and an enormous explosion of fire and energy consumed 1000 feet square of the Severing World, nearly obliterating the entire Fifth Squad if it weren't for Kenkou holding off the blast.

When the light of the blast dimmed to nothing, everyone looked at the devastation that this young ten year old human left behind. Smoke rose from anything the blast touched and warmth emanated from the blast area. All of Squad Five cheered at the display of might from this boy, except for Aizen.

"I didn't know you could do that! Where did you learn it?" Aizen asked. Kenkou walked back to the group once more and their cheering became silent.

"I actually just made that up now. I didn't think it'd blast the whole area, but just everything ahead of where I fired it from. I'll make up something next time to control it though," Kenkou answered as he sheathed his zanpakutou. Kenkou closed his eyes and focused on everything within the Severing World and said, "I don't sense anything else coming, so let's go back, Captain. Besides, I wanna tell Yamamoto what I did!"

"I'll tell him myself, Kenkou, you should head home and rest up," Aizen said while the whole squad walked back to the exit.

Kenkou, Aizen, and the rest of Squad Five exited the Severing World safely and everyone awaited Aizen's next command. "I'm sorry for bringing everyone along since none of you lifted a finger. I just wanted to see what Yamamoto's direct training did for this human," Aizen said to his squad as he looked at Kenkou to his right side, Momo on his left. "Everyone head back to the base and await any other orders from the higher ups! Momo, I want you to go as well and command the Squad as necessary if you need to, ok?"

Momo bowed to Aizen and she and the rest of the squad flash stepped away.

"You did well today, Kenkou. I'll give Commander Yamamoto a full report as soon as I can." Kenkou nodded at Aizen and they both turned around back to the gate. "Ok, guys, configure the Gate to take this child wherever he'd like to go."

The two guards, one on each side of the gate, bowed to Aizen and said, "Yes, sir!" They made few hand gestures and waited for Kenkou to give a location.

"Um, I need to go to Queens, New York City, in the United States." Both guards punched the side of the gate and the doors reopened with a white light consuming the entire inside of the gate.

"Good travels, Kenkou," Aizen said, bowing to Kenkou. "Same to you, Captain Aizen, till we meet again," Kenkou bowed back.

"And for the last time, call me Souske—we're just about friends now."

"Ok, Souske." Kenkou shook hands with Souske and ran into the opened gate.

_When it's time, he'll be our greatest asset when the Soul Society falls and I am King_, Aizen thought while walking a few steps away from the gate and flash stepping to the First Squad's headquarters.


	20. The Inner Sanctum

**October 18, 1999**

Kenkou lay asleep in his two bedroom apartment, which he shared with his mother and younger brother. He slept in his twin bed quietly that was covered in a red blanket, but the pillow case and sheets were white. His brother slept across the small, 10x15 room in his own twin bed with a green blanket covering him with a black pillow case and sheet set. Though the window was open on that moon drenched, October night, the chill of the night brought about a soothing comfort to the apartment. As Kenkou laid there with his left side turned into the forgiving mattress, his right arm twitched as he began to hear voices that did not have a physical source…

**"So, you're finally back, huh?"**

"**Man, lay off him—he's sleeping."**

"**Hey, he's the one who came here. Unconsciously, but he still came here."**

**Kenkou opened his eyes and saw the two familiar black and white gi'd fighters arguing a few feet ahead of him. Where he woke up was a large, green grassy plain where the wind blew gently against all of the tall grass. The air was warm and smelled of summer and the bright sun shined on him like a wakeup call. The sky was the most azure blue imaginable and a few fluffy, cumulus clouds dotted the sky. **_**This place again? Why now?**_** Kenkou thought. While looking at the beautiful sky, the Black Fighter kneed Kenkou in the face which threw him about 50 feet away.**

"**WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?" Kenkou screamed.**

"**Good, I finally have your attention," the Black Fighter said with his arms folded.**

**He was large, with his six foot, four inch tall stature that was heavily muscled. He had nearly bronze skin and a ring of large monk beads around his neck, but the necklace was so large, it sat on his chest. His face was in a permanently snarled look with red eyes that seemed to be the Devil's creation. The dark amber hair on his head was disheveled, but tied in a small ponytail on the top.**

"**You still didn't have to hit the poor child so hard," the White Fighter said while walking to the Black one.**

**The White Fighter donned a white gi with a black belt and it was clean at all of its seams and edges, unlike the Black fighter whose gi was frayed from what looked like battle. His skin was of fair complexion and his face wasn't as evil looking as his counterpart, for it was kind, yet commanding; encouraging, yet stern. His short, black hair was held up by a thin, red head band that extended two feet beyond the tight knot on the back of his head.**

**Kenkou got up to his feet and snapped into a defensive stance. "I'm ready now, bring it. I can more than take the two of you on." Kenkou smirked and raised his power quickly, attempting to cripple the Black and White warriors.**

**The Black one smirked and flash stepped in front of Kenkou and placed his right hand on Kenkou's left shoulder and whispered in his ear, "You don't get it do you. We're a part of you and there's no way you can be stronger, or weaker than us." Kenkou stepped back a few feet and snarled in anger.**

**"Besides, Kenkou, we just wanna talk to you this time. If I wanted to knock your block off, I'd have done it by now."**

"**He's telling the truth, y'know." Kenkou nodded at the White fighter, relaxed his body, and walked over to where the two fighters were. "Please, sit, Kenkou," said the White fighter. He slammed his foot into the ground and up sprouted rock stools for each person to sit on.**

**They all sat down and Kenkou asked, "Well, why am I in this place? And what **_**is**_** this place?"**

"**You're here because we wish to speak with you. And since you're asleep, now is the best time to bring you here. As for what 'here' is, 'here' is the inner sanctum of your mind. This place is where you can go if you meditate long enough and transport yourself here. You may also come here in great times of stress, at least according to Ryuujin Jakka," said the White fighter.**

"**Wait, you two can talk to other zanpakutou?"**

"**Of course we can! We're your zanpakutou! We can talk to you, as well as hear and converse with other zanpakutou," snapped the Black one.**

"**Wait. If you're my zanpakutou, why didn't you two manifest yourselves when I became a soul reaper?"**

"**Well, **_**he**_** thought you weren't worthy enough to use us and even after all of your training, he still thinks you're not ready," the White one said, leering at his opposite.**

"**Not yet, Kenkou. When I see you do something astonishing will I have us be manifested."**

"**Well, I hope it's soon. The zanpakutou my master gave me is good, but I'd like to truly have my own."**

"**Well, the good news is that the sword you received isn't a real zanpakutou: it doesn't have its own personality, or any transformations," the Black one commented.**

"**But it does supplement your strength well," the White one added.**

"**Thanks, I guess. And what **_**are**_** your names?" Kenkou inquired.**

"**Well, I'm—"**

"**We can't tell you," the Black one interrupted. "When we manifest ourselves, we'll tell you our names. Give us names for now until then, ok?"**

**The White one looked at his counterpart as if he trampled on his pride by cutting him off.**

"**Well, I'll name you Ryu," Kenkou said when he pointed at the White Fighter, "and I'll name you Akuma since the both of you resemble two of my favorite video game characters." He proceeded to point at the Black Warrior.**

"**Heh, I guess they're good names," Akuma said.**

"**I like mine, **_**Akuma**_**," Ryu said in an 'in your face' tone.**

**"Is this all we needed to talk about guys? I do have school tomorrow morning," Kenkou commanded.**

"**Well, there is one more thing," Akuma said, "and that's you better not die on us. The second you have too much life come out of you, I'm taking over." Akuma pointed his right thumb at himself, in the chest.**

"**Yeah, he'll try to kick my ass if I try to stop him—and I do detest fighting unnecessarily," Ryu said in a humorous tone.**

"**Well, I don't plan on dying. I'm too strong for any hollow to kill me and I doubt any soul reaper has the guts to come after me."**

"**That's my boy." Akuma got up and patted Kenkou on the back of his head. Suddenly, Kenkou heard an alarm buzzing in the distance and scratched his head inquisitively.**

"**It must be time for you to wake up. Get to school and do some learning this time instead of having your mod-soul learn for you," Ryu said in a parental tone.**

"**What're you talking about? It's not time to wake up yet." The alarm's buzzing sounded as if it was growing closer and louder at the same time.**

"**He's right, Kenkou. All of this soul reaper stuff has been keeping you from actually being in school," Akuma acknowledged.**

"**But guys, it's really not time to get up!" The alarm's sound was now blaring in Kenkou's ears and he held them while he crouched down.**

…Kenkou's eyes shot open as his alarm clock was essentially screaming at him to wake up. _Was that all a dream? Was I really in that 'sanctum' all night?_ Kenkou threw the covers off of his body and went to the bathroom to relieve himself. While he urinated, he continued to think about his strange 'dream' and how vivid it was and easy to remember. After flushing the toilet, he brushed his teeth, washed his face and hands, and got dressed in his room.

He then walked to the kitchen where his mother was cooking and sat down at his place setting. "So how'd you sleep, Kenkou?" asked Sozounushi, Kenkou's mother.

"It was fine. I'm well rested and ready for school! What's for breakfast?"

"My complete omelet with sausage, peppers, onions, and cheese."

"Mm! I can't wait!"

Kenkou's younger brother, Jiriki, made his way to his place at the dinner table, dressed and ready to go to school as well.

"Can I not have vegetables in mine, mom?" asked Jiriki.

"No way. You have your vegetables and you're gonna like 'em." Sozounushi continued to make her first omelet, tossing in the vegetables and other fixings into one side of the omelet. Once she flipped it, turned off the heat, and set the pan to another inactive burner, she turned to her sons and said, "Orange juice or milk this morning?"

"Milk, please," Kenkou and Jiriki said in unison.

Sozounushi's long, jet black hair shined in the morning sunlight that gleamed through the open window. She was a very attractive Japanese woman, even for her age of 40, but her children didn't know it since she never had a boyfriend since their father up and left when Kenkou was two and Jiriki was but an infant.

"Hm, since I used so much milk for the omelet mixture, we'll have to go with orange juice. Is that ok, boys?" They both nodded with half closed eyes as they were both not fully awake yet. She grabbed the orange juice container out of the refrigerator and placed in on the table between the two. Kenkou poured himself a glass, and got up and poured his brother one.

"Thank you, Keni," Jiriki said. Kenkou nodded back and sat back down. As he did, his mother slid the large looking omelet on to his plate and proceeded to make Jiriki's omelet.

Kenkou gobbled down his omelet quickly, drank his orange juice, and said, "Sorry for rushing, Mom, but I remembered that I have to catch up on a few things in school. Can you walk Jiriki to school?"

"Sure, Kenkou, I'll make an exception this morning since I don't have to be at work till a little later today. But don't make a habit of this, ok?"

"Sure, Mom."

Kenkou went to his mother and reached up for a kiss and waved goodbye at his brother and made his way to school, which was only six blocks away. _How am I gonna get my own zanpakutou? I hope I can test myself soon so I can achieve bankai and become a captain one day. I just hope no hollows attack while I'm at school today. Being a superhero isn't all that rewarding if no one sees you,_ Kenkou thought his whole way to school.


	21. How to Deal With Bullies

…Kenkou fiddled with his lunch at the far off corner of the lunch table. _Chicken nuggets and corn again? My body is just not gonna agree with me_, he thought, chomping through a nugget. He used his spork to play with his corn in the brightly lit cafeteria, when three people walked up on his right. The shadows casted over him and dimmed the bright, white table to a gray and he asked, "Can I help you," as he reached for his half pint of chocolate milk.

"I'm just seeing what's good around here, Kenkou," the tallest boy said with a snarl.

His shadow loomed over the table the most for he was five feet, seven inches tall, and weighted over 200 pounds. He was fair skinned with light freckles and long, blonde hair. His green eyes leered at the top of Kenkou's head, awaiting a response.

Kenkou kept his head down, nibbling at his lunch, and replied, "Well, there's nothing good here, so why don't you go enjoy your lunch, Stewart."

Stewart grabbed Kenkou's collar with his left hand and said, "Well, I don't like your tone, Kenny, so how about you eat this!"

Stewart reached back his right fist and hurled it at Kenkou, but Kenkou dodged it easily by leaning back quickly and it banged the plywood table loudly. Stewart held back his cries for pain as he let go of Kenkou and held his right hand with his left.

"Your best bet is to let me be, or there will be consequences," Kenkou warned. _"At all costs, do not fight any human and don't use your power against them, no matter the situation,"_ Yamamoto's voice rang in his head. _Don't worry, I'll adhere to my promise as best as I can, Master._

Stewart's black friend then shot back, "Lucky dodge, Ken! But Stew here will knock your block off when school lets out at three!"

Kenkou continued to look down confidently as he sipped at his chocolate milk once more. "Whatever, Rasheed, I don't want to fight anyone."

Rasheed's long, black afro was a nearly perfect sphere that made him look as tall as Stewart, but he was as tall as Kenkou: 5 foot, two.

"You're just saying that cuz you're scared!" Stewart's Asian friend pointed out.

"I don't fear anything, let alone you're bulked up buddy, Charles."

Charles was four feet, 11 inches tall and black hair was in a long, bowl cut. They all wore random t-shirts and jeans, while Kenkou adorned a white polo shirt and khakis.

* * *

Kenkou gripped his chocolate milk a little tighter in anger since these three stooges were wasting his time. "Whether you want to or not, I'm kicking your butt at the park across the street after school. If you don't show up, I'll tell everyone that you're one big chicken," Stewart said, bringing his face close to Kenkou's right ear.

He and his friends walked away back to their teacher's table as Kenkou finished his meal. His teacher saw the three children walking away from Kenkou and he broke away from his fellow teachers and sat next to Kenkou.

"What happened, Kenkou?" the Caucasian man asked.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with, Mr. Parker. There's nothing to worry about," Kenkou replied with a slight anger in his tone.

"I hope so. I don't want to have to explain to your mother how you were beat up by Stewart over there."

"I'm fine, sir. Can we go back to class? I want to finish the day as soon as possible."

Sure. Lunch did finish a couple of minutes ago. Ok everyone, let's pack it up and head back to class! Once we cover science and art, we'll have recess!" The kids all filed in line behind Kenkou, the tallest in the class, and returned to their classroom.

* * *

When the school bell rang at three o'clock, Kenkou packed up his things at his desk and made his way home. Sadly, his only route home was by the park that Stewart was waiting for him at. As he walked by the park, a group of other children gathered in a concentrated area with Stewart in the middle, boasting on how he's gonna show Kenkou what for.

As Kenkou trekked on the sidewalk across the street from the park, a child, no older than seven, yelled, "There's Kenkou!"

Everyone looked at him across the street and Stewart said, "Get him."

Rasheed and Charles nodded, ran across the lightly trafficked street, picked up Kenkou and brought him over to the park.

He didn't struggle with the two boys and only said, "I warned you before and you didn't listen. You'll be sorry," as they threw him on the ground before Stewart. Kenkou picked himself up and sat on his feet in a traditional Japanese style as if he were going to pray.

"I knew it! You were chicken after all! You just wanna go and cry home to your mommy," proclaimed Stewart, pointing at Kenkou.

Kenkou took his backpack off tossed it to the sideline and it landed just before Rasheed's feet. "Don't mention my mother unless you wish to be in the hospital for the rest of the school year," Kenkou snapped back, calmly.

"HA! What can you do to me with that scrawny body? No one in the entire school's been able to lay a dent in me! Besides, isn't your mommy worried, little Keni?"

Kenkou wore clothes that were one or two sizes too large as to not intimidate anyone because all of his training within the Soul Society translated into his body every time he refused with it. Underneath it all, he wasn't bulky, but more muscularly defined that most adults hoped to be. "What did I say about mentioning my mother…?"

"I don't care what you said because I'm gonna knock you out, and yo Jap momma!"

"Strike three," Kenkou said under his breath.

He flash stepped to Stewart and in the same motion, threw a left straight punch right into his stomach. Stewart exhaled deeply as the air was rushed out of him faster than he's ever felt. _I didn't even see him! How is this puny kid so strong?!_ Stewart thought. Kenkou then threw his right leg up and kicked Stew right in his chin and rose above the ground as he kicked. The entire crowd that encircled the fight gasped in awe at the force of the blows that Kenkou was delivering at the acrobatics of it all. Kenkou switched his upwardly outstretched foot from his right to his left and quickly brought the heel down to Stewart's head, knocking him unconscious and nearly shattering the asphalt where Stewart's face landed.

Kenkou stood there, looking at Stewart as the smoke cleared around his head. _Hm. Good, I held up just in time—he's not dead_, he thought. "I warned you several times, Stewart, and since you didn't listen, I had to teach you a lesson. I hope you learn well from it."

The entire crowd was in shock from the crushing defeat that Kenkou handed the greatest bully in all of Queens. When Kenkou picked up his backpack from the feet of Rasheed, he looked at him and his dropped jaw, smiled, and walked away as if nothing happened.

"Somebody call the ambulance!" one child shouted.

"Does anyone have any bandages?!" yelled another.

Rasheed and Charles, who stood next to each other, looked at one another, jaws open and Charles asked, "What just happened?"

"I have no idea, Chuck. All I know is that we better steer clear of Kenkou from now until forever."

"Good idea, Rasheed."


	22. Hollow Hunter

**October 22, 1999/October 23, 1999**

Kenkou's brown eyes shot wide open as he woke from his slumber. He the covers off and looked at the alarm clock: 12:00AM on the dim, green display. _I guess now's a good time to go hollow hunting_, he thought. He closed his eyes and his power emanated from his body and he could sense every hollow in New York City, not just the borough he lived in—Queens. _Not many tonight, but there are a few local one and I can sense that they're terrorizing a few poor souls._ Kenkou took his hand and felt between his mattress and his box spring and found his gikongan container. It had a solid black tube and at the top of it, there was a dragon's head. He opened his mouth then pressed dragon's head and it launched a small green pill into Kenkou's mouth. When he swallowed it, Kenkou was forced out of his body and, in spirit form, adorned the normal soul reaper attire. His sword sat within the kimono's large obi on his right side since Kenkou was left-handed.

"Just go ahead and sleep, Kaki. I'm going hunting for the rest of the night and I don't want you to trash my body or my mom to be worried, understood?"

"Yes, sir," Kaki said quietly in Kenkou's body and same voice.

_No matter how many times I do this, it's still creepy and I just can't get used to it…_ Kaki went back to sleep quickly in Kenkou's body as Kenkou jumped out of the window to find the highest building he could.

Kenkou jumped his way up to the top of his own building, then hopped to the closer buildings and finally perched himself atop the water tower of a 25-story building. He looked up at the half moon as he sensed for hollows presences within the area of his home. Kenkou's eyes widened as he felt the presence of a hollow. _Unseated officer class—this could be fun._

Kenkou jumped off of his perch to a main street, where it was well lit with orange street lights. Since it was New York, there were still cars going through the streets and being that it was Friday night; the traffic was heavier than usual, but not bumper to bumper. He landed on the sidewalk and looked around for the hollow. _Good, no innocent bystanders. Ok, sneaky beast, where'd you go…?_

Kenkou felt a pulse come from the park that was across the street and jumped over street and was immediately tackled by a hollow as one of his feet landed on the sidewalk. The hollow's large hand covered Kenkou's body as he was pinned to the ground.

"A soul reaper of your age? My, the Soul Society sure is digging the bottom of the barrel for soldiers," the Hollow said in a mind-linked manner without moving its mouth and slightly increasing his hand's pressure on Kenkou.

The hollow was 20 feet tall and its white mask resembled a skull. Its body had a very thin torso, but its arms and legs were very long and very well built. Its entire body was a purple color with a green sheen to it that looked rather scaly.

"I'm only ten, but I can certainly take you down," Kenkou said with a smirk as his head was the only thing that stuck out from under the Hollow's hand, face up.

"Oh? Last time I checked, you were pinned," the Hollow snapped back.

"And last time I checked, you were missing your left hand." Kenkou moved his left to a karate chop position and said, "Hadou one," the hollow's eyes widened underneath its mask, "red shot of fire."

The hollow's hand exploded into flames and it screamed as he took three long steps back from Kenkou. Kenkou got up, brushed the dust off from his body, and drew his sword. "Any last words?" Kenkou inquired, walking slowly towards the injured hollow.

"Oh no, you haven't seen the last of me…" The hollow warped to black and disappeared before Kenkou. _Hm, must've gotten a little scared._

Kenkou then picked up the presence of another hollow, this time within the park itself and quickly followed it with sword in hand. By the time he got to the source of the power, a family of souls consisting of mother, father, and two sons were running away from the hollow he first sensed. _Tenth seat level? I like it!_ The hollow was another humanoid hollow, but instead of blunt finger tips like the last one, this one had claws. It was red and black striped vertically with a ring of white on its neck. "I like your color Hollow, but I'm gonna have to purify you!" Kenkou bellowed across the grass field.

The hollow screamed upwards and pointed all if its fingers on its right hand at Kenkou and smiled. "Huh?" Kenkou was flabbergasted at the technique and wondered what it was doing. The hollow screamed once more and its razor sharp finger tips launched at a high velocity. Kenkou jumped up 25 feet to avoid them and looked down at the damage it did to the area he was at. _I could've been Swiss cheese if I stayed there a little longer._ He looked at where the hollow was, but it wasn't there. He then looked up and saw the hollow coming down with its left hand's fingers all pointed at Kenkou. He turned up and blocked all of the fingers with the broad side of his blade and crashed down into the ground, pinned once again. _Pinned twice in one night? I'm slipping up here!_ The hollow raised its right hand and its sharp fingers shot back out and completed the hand. Kenkou's eyes widened and thought, _Slick, real slick._

Kenkou, with one hand on the handle and the other on the blade, shoved the fingers off the blade to his left forcing the hollow to dig into the ground, and slashed down the hollow's torso, forcing it to take a few steps back. He then flipped up and flash stepped in front of the hollow's face and said, "See you in the Soul Society." The hollows eyes widened with fear as Kenkou slashed down and through the hollow's face and mask, making it dissipate into nothing.

Kenkou landed softly on his feet and walked over to the family of souls. "You guys alright?" Kenkou yelled across the field. The family all looked at each other and nodded back at Kenkou.

When Kenkou was a few feet before the family, the father asked, "What are you?"

"I'm a soul reaper. We slay and purify those monsters, which are called hollows, and we send normal spirits like you to the Soul Society," Kenkou replied, resting his zanpakutou on his left shoulder.

"What's the Soul Society?" one of the sons asked.

"Well, to normal humans, it's called 'going to Heaven'. It's actually pretty nice there. It barely rains so there's plenty of clear weather to play in, you never go hungry, and you'll age very slowly so you can truly enjoy your lives at this age."

"You seem to be a little young to be one of these 'soul reapers'," the mother commented.

"I'm only ten and that's because I was born human. I'm not of the norm within the Soul Society, but I help out in New York City when I can. All of you ready to go?"

They all nodded as Kenkou raised his sword over the father's head. He then lightly stamped the father on his forehead with the butt of his sword and the kanji for 'deathlife' appeared in a bright blue light on the father's forehead. He then sunk into the ground and when his head was under, a black butterfly with pink edges on its wings appeared and flew off into the distance. Kenkou did this for the mother as well, but was interrupted by the first hollow he faced when he got to the two children.

Kenkou turned around to see the same hollow, but his hand grew back and there was something else different about him. _He's stronger now... Fifth seat class? That can't be right..._

"I told you I'd be back, Soul Reaper Boy!" the hollow pointed out.

"I really don't like being interrupted, Scum."

"Oh, so you gave me a name? Well, I'll correct you on that: my name is—" The hollow coughed blood behind Kenkou as he was now underneath the hollow after delivering a swift right uppercut to its abdomen. "How…" the hollow said gripping its torso as Kenkou stepped back to look it in the eyes.

"I don't care how powerful you get. You can be fifth seat class or higher and I'll still defeat you. Would you like to know why?" The hollow looked up as it was doubled over. "It's because I trained with Commander Yamamoto of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads for five years and just to let you know: I'm twice as strong as he is."The hollow screamed in agony as Kenkou took the sword in his left hand and slashed right, and then down to force the hollow to dissipate. "Whoa…" The two boys said in unison.

"Ok, you two ready to join your parents?" They both nodded and Kenkou sent both of them to the Soul Society using the Soul Burial.

Kenkou waved the blade behind him to shake off the blood of the hollows and proceeded to sheath his sword when he felt another presence in his area. _Another soul reaper? I thought Yamamoto gave me this area to watch over. Then again, with school and a real life to complete, I'm not surprised. Then again, he did promise me a square mile_, Kenkou thought. He flash stepped behind the soul reaper on top of a nearby bulding and said, "Hello!" with his eyes closed. When he opened them, he saw the soul reaper, but he had a strange hat on that covered his eyes and tighter clothing than other soul reapers. He wore tight, black pants and a red long sleeve shirt with shoulder armor on both shoulders. "Ok, who are you, and why're you following me?"

The mystery man flash stepped to the roof of another building, but Kenkou easily caught up with him and held him from behind and put his zanpakutou's blade to his throat. "I asked you a question, Mister, now who are you and why're you following me."

"I've been following you for the past month, watching you progress every day," the mystery man said.

"Why've you been tracking me?" Kenkou pressed the blade on to the man's neck slightly.

"I've been just keeping watch over you because the Commander said to do it—I'm just following orders."

"Commander Yamamoto?" The man began to struggle.

"Yes, my commander, your master."

"Hm. Ok." Kenkou let the man go and he turned around to face Kenkou.

"And you know I'll have to tell him about what you did on Monday, right?"

"Yeah, I know. I'll just answer to him tomorrow when I wake up," Kenkou said, looking up at the half moon. The messenger flash stepped away and Kenkou sensed another hollow, this one a little closer to home.

After Kenkou slew a few more hollows, he headed home and the moon was about to set in the barely starry sky. _I guess dawn is approaching. I need to get some sleep before I head off to the Soul Society once more._ Kenkou flash stepped to his bedroom window and climbed in and woke up Kaki when he tripped on a toy, but his brother remained fast asleep.

"How did the hunting go, sir?"

"It went well, Kaki, but I need my body back. I need to sleep as well," Kenkou whispered.

"Yes, sir."

Kenkou laid into his body and the small green pill popped out of his mouth and he put it back into the gikongan holster then put it back between his mattress and box spring and covered himself with his blanket. _I hope he doesn't punish me too harshly_, Kenkou thought, closing his eyes.


	23. For Every Action

**October 23, 1999**

Kenkou walked through the gate at the base of the Seireitei on that warm, partly cloudy day. _What's with these warm days in the Soul Society? It's been getting much colder in the real world_, Kenkou pondered. "Who are you and why are you here unannounced? No one's scheduled to come through here for another hour!" one of the guards shouted.

"Take it easy, guys, I'm here to speak with Yamamoto, being that he is my master," Kenkou said, with his arms in each other's sleeves, grasping his forearms underneath the large kimono. "I don't care if you're here to see one of the Central Forty-Six, you're not getting by with the proper clearance!" the other guard snapped as they pointed their long, fork like staffs with two prongs at Kenkou.

"I really don't have time for this, nor do I want to make myself hostile."

Kenkou grabbed the scabbard of his zanpakutou with his right hand, waiting for their move. More guards showed up with their white over coats, looking like captain's coats, but they had large, purple blocks of fabric near the bottom edges with the sleeves cut off. They all grouped around Kenkou and pointed their uniform staffs at him, ready to attack. "Fine, I won't fight," Kenkou said calmly, throwing up is hands.

"That's more like it, boy," one guard said, relaxing his arms from holding the staff. Kenkou smirked devilishly and disappeared before the group of guards. They all gasped in astonishment at such a young person being able to master flash steps, but none of them could figure out how to sense him because he left no trace of his power, or his path.

"I really hope the commander doesn't find out about this…" one guard remarked.

"Yeah, it'll be all out asses if that happened…" his partner commented.

Kenkou appeared at Commander Yamamoto's office door and before he could knock, he was interrupted. "Come in, my apprentice. I've been expecting you." Kenkou opened the western style door and walked to Yamamoto's desk as he was looking over some documents.

"I've received word of the ruckus you've just caused, Kenkou, and I'm just glad you didn't hurt anyone," Yamamoto said, looking up from the few papers he had on his desk.

"I didn't want to hurt anyone in the first place. If they got proactive and came at me faster, I'd have retaliated though," Kenkou said, taking out his zanpakutou and sheath and laying them on the ground as he sat down in a chair.

"I'm just glad it didn't escalate to that. I'll be sure to put forth a motion to allow you unlimited access to the main Senkai Gate as soon as I have my discussion with you," Yamamoto looked at Kenkou with his hands under his chin, one over the other, as his elbows sat on the desk.

"I know, Master, I shouldn't have used a shred of my power to face that bully on Monday," Kenkou said in an apologetic tone.

"I'm surprised you could control so much of your power so well in your human form. You're stronger than I am, on the same level, so you should have a limiter on you when you go back home, but I don't do that to you, Kenkou."

"And I thank you for that, Master," Kenkou said, bowing his head.

"But how much do you believe your power is hindered in just going back to the living world in your soul reaper form?"

"Um, I'd say about five percent."

"Amazing. You can already gauge power levels and changes in your power."

"And I know the reason why: it's because there are much fewer spirit particles on Earth than here in the Soul Society, but it's only a five percent difference."

"That's correct, Kenkou. Now, how much do you think your power diminishes once you're in your human form?"

"I have no idea, master. I just feel my own, enormous power all the time."

"Well, my apprentice, from your five percent decrease, you power gets halved in your human form. Granted, someone of an official ranking that's a vice-captain or higher has a limiter to bring them down to twenty percent, the fact that you have a limit at all is good to know. When you gain your own zanpakutou and your shikai, I'll teach you a limiter that'll allow you to not influence the world around you even more. Or you could use it to take it easy on your enemies."

"Great ideas, master, and I'll never use my abilities again in the real world as a human."

"Nonsense! Use them when you need to and when you need to defend yourself like you did on Monday against that bully."

"Ok, Master, I'll be sure to do that." Kenkou bowed once more. "Was there anything else you needed of me, Master?"

"No, that's all I needed to talk to you about, Kenkou. You may want to visit Vice-Captain Hinamori of the Fifth Squad—she's been looking for you." Yamamoto smiled slightly, but Kenkou didn't notice it since his mustache was so thick that if you saw Yamamoto talk, it was only his mustache that moved.

"Thank you, Master. I'll be sure to see Momo before I leave." Kenkou got up, picked up his sword and put it back in his obi, and bowed before flash stepping away. _He's maturing so well, especially for a ten year old. His twelfth year's summer will be interesting to see…_ Yamamoto thought.

Kenkou appeared at the Fifth Squad's captain's office door and knocked. "You may enter," Souske said, looking out of his window. Kenkou slid the door open and bowed before entering the room. "Why, this is a pleasure, Kenkou. What's the occasion?"

"Commander Yamamoto said that Momo was looking for me. It's been a while since I last visited." Kenkou took off his footwear and placed it all next to the door on the outside of it. He then took his zanpakutou, scabbard and all, and placed it on the floor next to the left chair that faced Aizen's desk.

"She has asked for you once or twice since you dealt with the Menos Grande. She probably senses you here and she'll probably be on her way soon. How've you been, Kenkou?" Souske turned around and sat down at his desk.

Kenkou moved to the window to see what Captain Aizen was looking at. "I've been well. Destroying hollows is quite fun, but doing it all without anyone see me be a hero is a little bothersome." A calm breeze blew in and it was warm, unseasonably warm for mid-October.

"Well, it comes with the territory, but you're the second human who's become a soul reaper in all of Soul Society's history, so I can't exactly relate." Aizen folded his hands under his chin and put his elbows on his desk, just as Yamamoto did earlier.

"Thank you for your sympathy, Captain Aizen. I'll just have to pull through and just keep moving forward," Kenkou said, admiring the changing foliage.

"It's no problem at all," replied Aizen. Kenkou sat down in a chair facing his desk and Aizen inquired, "Why did you become a soul reaper, Kenkou?"

"Well, Yamamoto made me become a soul reaper. I had no choice in the matter." Kenkou continued to look out the window from his seat.

"That's rough. Why do you remain a soul reaper then?"

"That's easy: the power. I've always wanted some type of supernatural ability ever since I saw some of the crazy cartoons and shows on TV and since I now posses such an ability, I don't want to let it go." Kenkou looked back at Souske Aizen.

"You know, wanting power just for power's sake can be self-destructive if left unchecked," Souske said in a matter of fact tone. _He has the same goal that I have…_

"I know this, Souske, but I also like protecting people. If I can become the strongest ever and help both the living and the dead, then I'll be the happiest person ever."

"Selflessness is a good trait to balance your want for power, Kenkou. I believe with your thirst for greatness and self-established responsibility to help those who cannot help themselves, you'll be the greatest soul reaper of us all."

"Thank you for your vote of confidence, Souske." Kenkou bowed his head slightly.

The door to Aizen's office slid open abruptly and Momo bowed before entering the room. "We've been waiting on you, Momo. Your buddy Kenkou is here to spend some time with you," Aizen said with a slight smile.

"I'm sorry it took me so long, Captain. A few of the squad members had questions for me and I just finished up the last bit of paperwork for the month." Momo walked over to the other empty chair in the room, but didn't sit down.

"It's fine, Momo, as long as you made it. I take it you felt Kenkou's presence from where you were?"

"Yes, Captain. I felt him as soon as he entered the Soul Society, but even more so when he came to your office."

"It's good to know my hunch was right," Aizen commented.

"Well, Momo, if you need to speak to me, shall we go?"

Momo nodded, bowed to her captain, and walked out of the room. Kenkou bowed as well, but to a lesser degree, picked up his sword, and then his footwear outside the door as Momo slid the door shut. _Every time I see him, he's stronger and more refined like going from a rough piece of coal to now cleaned, but uncut, diamond. If only he had his own zanpakutou, I'd forge the King's Key immediately,_ Aizen thought.


	24. One Insane Captain

**February 18, 2000**

"Happy birthday, Kenkou!" Momo jumped on Kenkou when he, Izuru, and Renji entered her quarters. Momo had heard of Kenkou's birthday in January from Renji, but was told to keep calm about it—but, she failed miserably with that. "Thanks, Momo," Kenkou said with a twinge of annoyance in his tone as they fell to Kenkou's back, Momo on top. Momo got up and brushed herself off as Kenkou flipped up and flicked the chest of kimono emphatically. "It's only my birthday, y'know…"

"I know, but it's _your_ birthday! It's not every day you turn eleven. Did Commander Yamamoto give you the day off?" Momo questioned.

"He did, but I told him that he didn't have to. He basically commanded me to take the day off."

"He was rather adamant about fulfilling his duties today," Izuru interjected.

"Hey…why did you get Renji and Izuru before you came for me, Kenkou?" Momo's face went from excited to pouty that instant.

"Because I've spent nearly all of my free time with you and I haven't seen these two trouble makers in quite some time."

"T-t-t-troublemaker? Me? That's not possible…" Izuru commented with a stunned face.

"Take it easy, Izzy, I'm only messing with you. Renji causes more trouble than what's needed." Kenkou stuck his tongue out at Renji to show his joking manner, but he didn't take it so well.

"Hey, I only cause a little trouble at a time and it's usually on purpose!" Renji snapped.

"Don't worry, I know about your aim to be better than your captain, Byakuya Kuchiki, so don't worry about it. You don't have to be as uptight as he is, anyway."

"Heh, that is true, Renji," Izuru agreed. "And my name is Izuru, not 'Izzy', Kenkou." Izuru glared at Kenkou with a slightly peeved look about him.

"It's just a nickname, Izuru. You're the only one of us that has three or more syllables to your name, so Izzy's your nickname," Momo said as she patted Izuru on his back.

"Yeah, I guess so…" Izuru looked down, but not depressed as he accepted his nickname reluctantly.

"Birthday or not, are we just gonna stay in Momo's place all day or are we gonna find somewhere to enjoy this day?" Renji interjected.

"I agree. Let's go to those buildings at the base of the Tower of Repentance and play hide and go seek!" Kenkou suggested, pointing upward and smiling.

The rest of the group looked at Kenkou as if he had an alien on his head. "Eh, it's something to do. It might be fun," Renji said.

"…you're really up for it, Renji?" Momo looked astonished at him.

"Sure, why not?"

"Renji, you surprise us every time we see you…" Izuru added.

"So what're we waiting for? Let's go!" Kenkou shouted and disappeared before Izuru, Renji, and Momo.

"Hey! Wait up!" Momo yelled, flash stepping away with Izuru and Renji.

Kenkou sat behind one of the tall skyscrapers as he heard footsteps a few hundred feet away, heading in the opposite direction of his hiding spot. Since he asked for it, Renji was deemed 'it' and was first to find someone to take his place. _Good thing we're all keeping our reiatsus to a minimal level, otherwise this'd be no fun_, Kenkou thought. Being that he was preoccupied with controlling his own massive reiatsu, Kenkou didn't pay attention to the tall captain that was standing on the roof of the adjacent building, looking down at him. "That him, Yachiru?" Captain Kenpachi Zaraki turned to his tiny, pink-haired vice-captain.

"Yup! That's the kid who's birthday is today!" she replied. Yachiru was no taller than three and a half feet and was lighter than air, which aided in the ease that her captain could carry her.

"How old is he again?" Kenpachi asked.

"He's eleven." she replied looking down at Kenkou with her captain.

"Well, I'm gonna give him a nice birthday present, so stay here, Yachiru."

"Sure thing, Kenny!" She jumped off Kenpachi and sat on the ledge of the tall building. "What're you gonna give him?" she added as she looked up her giant of a captain.

"You'll see, Yachiru, you'll see…"

Kenpachi jumped down and landed much lighter than someone who'd jump from 50 stories up in front of Kenkou. Kenkou tried to scuffle backwards, but he was already up against the wall while he was sitting down. "Who are you!?" Kenkou commanded while Kenpachi had his head down.

"You don't remember me? Heh, I'm Kenpachi Zaraki, captain of Squad Eleven, and I'm here to celebrate your birthday." Kenpachi stood erect to his, six foot, seven inch tall stature. He was a few shades lighter than Kenkou, but had tiny eyes, and the iris and pupils were even smaller than that. A vertical scar marked the left side of his face, and it reached from his hairline, through his eye, and down through his chin. He wore a black, with gold trim, eye patch on his right eye which was tightly wrapped over his small eye and around the right side of his face. His long, black hair came to a series of points to the back of his head and Kenkou could see small, red bells at the point of each clump of hair. Kenpachi's white captain's coat was tattered at all of the ends, which were probably a result of many battles, and Kenpachi's lower torso, home to his abdominal muscles, were tightly wrapped with white bandage, probably something disfiguring was underneath.

"If you're here to celebrate my birthday, why did you scare the crap out of me?!" Kenkou barked.

"It's my own way of celebrating such a day," Kenpachi said with a smirk. The same kind of smirk Gin Ichimaru gave him many years ago and it made Kenkou uneasy, thought it didn't bring about outright fear. _What the hell is this dude planning…_ Kenkou thought.

"And how do you plan on celebrating my birthday?"

"You're from the United States, right?" Kenkou nodded. "Well, I hear that there's a certain tradition in that country whenever it's a boy's birthday…"

Kenkou scratched his and inquired, "And what's that?"

"Birthday hits—one." Kenpachi drew his sword with his right hand and slashed down with the one hand to the now standing Kenkou. Kenkou reacted quickly and caught it easily with his right hand between his palm and his thumb, without any blood being drawn. "Good! Just what I'd expect from someone who spent five long years training with the commander!" Kenpachi bellowed, while smiling with joy.

_What the hell is wrong with this guy? He's happy about fighting? Fighting should be a last resort, right?_ Kenkou wondered. "I don't know what you're getting at, Kenpachi, but you're insane for wanting to kill another soul reaper." Kenkou continued to hold the blade in his right hand, not wavering at the great amount of pressure behind it.

"So you call me by my first name… We will fight as friends would and not hold anything back!" Kenkou looked back at Kenpachi like the captain was a man possessed by the Devil himself. _Great, he is insane… Why the hell would he allow such a man to be among his captains, let alone a soul reaper?!_

"Come on, Kenpachi, why would you want to kill a comrade?" Kenkou's arm began to grow tired from it being up and holding something that pushed back consistently.

"Isn't it obvious? It's to see who's stronger! TWO!" Kenpachi brought his sword up and slashed diagonally at Kenkou, but he blocked it with the whole of his palm and said, "Hadou one: red shot of fire!" A small ball of red energy formed and exploded, throwing fire everywhere. When the smoke cleared, Kenkou was nowhere to be found. "C'mon kid, where're you hiding?!" Kenpachi yelled at the top of his lungs.

Kenkou kneeled on top of the building where Kenpachi was trying to kill him and he looked down at the crazed captain. "This dude really is insane…" Kenkou looked up and saw a pink haired child that looked to be no older than six sitting on the ledge of the building twenty feet away from him. "Uh, who're you, more of the party coming to me?" Kenkou asked in a quiet enough tone to not have Kenpachi hear him.

"No, silly, I'm Kenny's vice-captain!" she replied playfully while kicking her heels against the side of the building. _This kid is a vice-captain? I've gotta talk to Master Yamamoto about this one… And what's with this __child__ being _his_ vice-captain?! These two are as mismatched as they come!_ Kenkou analyzed. While on the roof, he looked around for his zanpakutou, and saw it nearer to the opposite edge of where he was. He walked patiently towards the red katana that lay in its sheath on the other end of the building. _I really don't want to fight him, but he is getting on my nerves. Forgive me, Master, once more._ As Kenkou crouched to pick up his zanpakutou, Kenpachi slammed on the ground and the force threw Kenkou back 15 feet. "Heh, I found you, kid. There's no use running, I will give you these last nine birthday hits by the end of the day." Kenpachi grinned as he brought his zanpakutou up over his head.

_This guy's insane! I guess there's no use running and trying to avoid a fight. This also might be another test from my Master as well._ "Fine, Captain Zaraki, if you want to give me my birthday hits, I'll take 'em." Kenkou stood up and readied himself in a defensive position.

"HA! It's about time! THREE!!" Kenpachi rushed at Kenkou and came down with his katana as if he were going to cut Kenkou right in half, but Kenkou blocked the strike by raising his right arm and the blade clanged against Kenkou's forearm. "Impressive! I'd expect nothing less from someone who trained with the old man!" Kenpachi screamed as he tried to dig the sword into Kenkou's arm, but the arm seemed to be stronger than steel.

Kenkou snickered and Kenpachi looked inquisitively at him. "What've you got stuck up your sleeve, kid?" Kenkou's slight smirk turned into a full blown smile before he flash stepped to his blade, causing Kenpachi to bring his sword into the roof of the building about a foot. Kenkou drew his sword, threw the sheath past Kenpachi, then placed both hands on the hilt, left on top, right on bottom, and proceeded to come down with a vertical slice. Kenpachi looked to his right and with his left eye saw what was coming and he brought the sword from his right and blocked the strike. The swords clashed with such a force, that any debris that was within 500 feet was blown away and Kenpachi's vice-captain almost blew away with the wind as she hung on to the ledge of her building until the wind subsided.

"Good, Kenkou…" Kenpachi flung the sword further to his right and it pushed Kenkou back into the air, since he came down at an angle from above. Kenkou flipped backwards and touched the air with his right middle finger and some white wind and energy kicked up where he touched before he landed on the air. Kenkou brought the sword, blade tip facing behind him, to his left and placed his right hand on the bottom end of the hilt. As Kenkou poured his reiatsu into the zanpakutou, the blade turned black with a white aura while the wind seemed to rush to the sword and around it. _This kid's strong and his reiatsu control is great. If this is ALL of the commander's doing, then I should go back for more training_, Kenpachi thought.

Once the energy stopped pooling around Ikioi, Kenkou's zanpakutou, the blade had no special color to it, but the energy in the blade and Kenkou was more than 30 percent greater than earlier. Kenkou dashed at Kenpachi as fast as he could with his sword still ready on his left side. Kenpachi smiled and prepped his sword to block from his right, but as soon as Kenkou brought the sword back a little to swing it, he flash stepped to the ground right in front of Kenpachi and slashed diagonally up from left to right, cutting deep and having a ton of blood gush from the wound. Kenkou jumped back, expecting Kenpachi to keel over, but his smile went from slight to ear to ear.

"You cut me! This is great! I don't have to hold back now!" Kenpachi brought his sword straight up and over his head and continued, "Now the real fight begins!" He then proceeded to stab the building where he was standing. Kenkou gave a puzzled look at the motion, but he was quickly answered by Kenpachi pouring his own reiatsu into the sword, still smiling ear to ear.

The building exploded slightly and crumbled to the ground from its previous 48-story height in large chunks. Kenkou, thinking quickly, flipped backwards and landed on the side of the adjacent building, kicking back off to the ground level. Once he landed safely, he jumped up through the falling debris of the tower to where he felt Kenpachi was falling to. He slashed his way through the debris, cutting each piece of stone and steel like a hot knife through butter until he saw a flash of the captain's white overcoat. He pulled the sword back, nearly under his left armpit, and proceeded to stab the white shape, but when he was at full extension all he felt was rubble, and not flesh, when he stabbed through his 'target'.

Kenkou fell with the surrounding rubble and it crashed loudly. Renji, Momo, and Izuru heard the disturbance from far away and rushed to find out what it was to find Captain Zaraki and Kenkou's reiatsus increased and fighting against one another.

Once the building stopped falling, Kenkou shoved a large piece of debris off and jumped out from what small corners still covered him. He landed on top of the peak of the pile then scanned the area for his opponent. "Where the hell did he go…?" Kenkou asked himself as he heard bells jingling behind him in the distance…

* * *

**Author's Note: Since college is starting up, I probably won't be able to write at all until Thanksgiving, if that. If I do have anything out, it'll be out on a monthly basis until winter break. Thanks for reading and be sure to review and give me your thoughts on each chapter till now!!  
**


	25. Kenkou Beats Kenpachi!

…Kenkou flung his sword behind him, blade out, and blocked Kenpachi's hard strike and it caused both swords to vibrate like an aluminum bat on a cold, winter's day. The vibrations left as soon as they came and Kenkou pushed his right hand on the back of the blade, forcing Kenpachi to retreat a few steps. Kenpachi stood up straight, swung his sword casually on his right shoulder and shook his head of some of the debris, making the small bells at the end of his hair jingle.

"Those bells were you?" Kenkou asked from ten feet away.

"Yeah, I'm surprised you could hear them. You can cut me _and_ hear my bells? Maybe I should stop holding back…" Kenpachi replied with his eager grin.

"Wait: holding back? What do you mean?"

"I naturally have a high level of reiatsu, higher than the Old Man's as well. And unlike most of the Soul Society, my squad and I love to fight and in order to enjoy my fights, I need to hold back. The bells on my hair, deliberate strikes, swinging my zanpakutou one-handed, and this eye patch are all hindrances on my ability to fight so I can enjoy each battle to the best of my ability." Kenpachi pointed to his eye patch with the butt of his hilt as he spoke.

"So you love to fight? Is that why you joined the Thirteen Court Guard Squads?" Kenkou relaxed a little, but not enough to drop his defenses to the ground.

"Yup. The strongest things you can ever face are other soul reapers and hollows. I became captain to show my ferocity." Kenpachi lifted his zanpakutou held it horizontally at full extension in front of his face.

"And becoming a captain helped you fight the best of the best?"

"Not exactly, Kenkou. I killed the previous captain in a sanctioned battle and the victor was awarded with captain of the Eleventh Squad. Since he was the captain of the battle hardened division, he was the greatest adversary I could test myself against."

"I see. Well, I'm the strongest around and if you want regain your title as 'Fiercest in the Soul Society', you should give your all to defeating me." Kenkou stood erect on the rubble of the newly destroyed building and pointed his sword at Captain Zaraki, goading him on.

"I'll take your challenge, young Kenkou…"

Kenpachi increased his reiatsu, but only to stop at 50 percent of Kenkou's current state. _This can't be his max, can it?_ Kenpachi then grabbed the patch on his right eye with his free, left hand and ripped it off, causing the entire area to explode with yellow energy, clearing the rubble they were both standing on.

_What the hell?! How did his power just jump to match my own power?! This better be the only trick he's got!_ Kenkou thought as he gripped his sword forcefully.

"Is this good enough for you, Kenkou?" Kenpachi smiled, as he held the eye patch in his left hand, which seemed to squirm in his hand.

"What the hell kind of trick did you just pull, Kenpachi?! I thought you were at your max!!" Kenkou screamed.

"This eye patch is a monster capable of eating the massive amount of reiatsu I bleed off. It was made at my request by the Scientific Research Department since I can't seem to control my own power." Kenpachi swung the zanpakutou in his right hand and the building was cut from end to end, though it stretched 150 feet wide. It slid down its diagonal line of separation and crashed against another building and leaned itself against the other building.

"So this is your maximum. Good, now there's nowhere else you can go with your power." _I can still sense it creeping in magnitude, but it's not jumping like it did when he ripped off the monster._ Kenkou exhaled calmly as he raised his zanpakutou over his head vertically to the sky and inhaled once it was in its raised position. This time, Kenkou shoved his own energy into the blade and caused it to turn a deep crimson. _Guys, I think I need you two on this one. He matched my power before and I need to be sure that I exceed him_, Kenkou thought to his inner companions.

"_We'll help, Kenkou. If you die, we die with you and there's no way I'm gonna let that happen," Ryu said._

"_And I want this bozo's ass kicked thoroughly. To think he's stronger than us deserves an ass whooping from hell!" Akuma commented._

_Thanks, guys_. Kenkou lowered the sword to his left side, using his left hand, and white smoke exuded from the blade as black energy shot out from underneath Kenkou's body. Any loose debris that remained on the battlefield levitated off the ground before it rushed to the sky and exploded into nothingness.

_This kid is full of surprises, isn't he…?_ Kenpachi thought, throwing his eye patch monster to the side.

Renji, Momo, and Izuru ran through the streets wand walkways to find Kenkou and Captain Zaraki in the center of the mess that was being created. "Kenkou's the center of all this?! Can he ever learn to NOT be the center of attention?" Momo yelled as they all stopped a few hundred feet away from the fight.

"Captain Zaraki is just testing his metal, to see if everything Yamamoto was doing is really paying off," Renji commented.

"You knew?!" Momo shrieked.

"Not exactly, Momo. Captain Zaraki wouldn't fight another soul reaper unless he's testing them. And since the captain's eye patch is off, my guess is that Kenkou's stronger than he thought he'd be," Renji added.

"Is Kenkou really that strong without his own zanpakutou?" Izuru asked.

"According to what he's told me, Kenkou has the ability to ask, or borrow, the strength and power of his zanpakutou even though they're not physically manifested. His body's power is equal to Yamamoto's body, but he can increase it by supplementing it with his zanpakutou. Yamamoto's strength increases only when he releases his zanpakutou. And Kenkou said that his zanpakutou only give him fifty percent of their total shikai strength, if they were released," Renji informed.

Both warriors continued to increase their reiatsu, causing the ground to shake and all the vice-captains to breathe heavily since they were at a distance from the battle.

"_This is our limit without manifesting ourselves: fifty percent from each of us. Now go get him, Kenkou!"_ Akuma's voice commanded.

Kenkou stopped pooling his energy, but his blade remained red as he ran at Kenpachi with everything he had. Kenpachi also stopped showing off his power and blocked the horizontal slash to his right side, then a vertical one to his head. Kenpachi's already jagged-bladed zanpakutou shed shard after shard of its blade as he held off Kenkou's ferocious attacks.

"Let's go up there, guys," Izuru pointed to the top of the building that Yachiru was sitting on as she watched the fight progress. They all flash stepped to the roof and sat down on the edge the tiny vice-captain was on and they gathered around her.

"This is great, isn't it!? Kenny's having so much fun with Keni!" Yachiru said as she turned to Renji, Momo and Izuru.

"Great? Kenkou's gonna get hurt!" Momo complained.

"He'll be fine, Momo. Kenkou's real strong—remember that," Renji added as the fight continued below.

Kenkou held off an upward strike from Kenpachi with more wind being kicked back from each strike leading up to this blow. As he held the zanpakutou still, Kenkou shoved the sword to his left side, jumped with his left side facing the ground and double dropped kicked Kenpachi square in his chest. Kenpachi slid back, but stopped himself 30 feet away by digging his sword into the ground. "Good, kid…" Kenpachi commented before he darted head on at Kenkou.

_I need to end this now_, Kenkou thought. "Hadou seventy-eight—" Kenkou raised his free right hand, but before he could finish the spell, he lost sight of Kenpachi and all he could see was his own blood as he fell back slowly. The four vice-captains looked on in astonishment as Kenkou as cut from an upward slash from Kenpachi.

"Don't bring those bullshit kidou around me. If you have to use those piss-ant spells, then maybe you aren't worth my time," Kenpachi said disgustedly at the slow falling Kenkou. Kenpachi stood straight up, slung his sword over his right shoulder then walked away before shaking his head in revulsion.

_Is this my blood? Can I really be defeated? Why can't I be stronger? "Because you're weak as you are."_ A voice that sounded exactly like Kenkou, but like he talked through an active fan, spoke in Kenkou's mind. Kenkou flipped back, crouched with his head down and zanpakutou in his left hand.

Though Kenpachi can't feel much power, he could feel the change in signature of Kenkou's power. "What the hell…?"

Kenkou lumbered to his feet as his reiatsu pulsed from his body like a heartbeat. Keeping his head down, Kenkou skulked to his feet with his breath increasing in intensity while decreasing in pace. "That lucky strike of yours will be your last, Captain Kenpachi Zaraki…" Kenkou said in that same gargled sounding voice.

"What did you say?" Kenpachi turned around quickly to see Kenkou's head down, but pieces of a white mask forming on the right side of his face. "What the hell…?"

Kenkou turned his face up to show the upper right quadrant of his face covered in the white mask. The whites of his eyes were now black and the rest of the center of each eye was a bright red. The bone white mask continued to expand down his face very slowly as pieces of the mask appeared behind his head and gathered where the mask was missing down Kenkou's face. "I will kill you now, Captain Kenpachi Zaraki, and you will not touch us anymore." Kenkou, or lack thereof, readied to attack by bringing his zanpakutou to his lower left, charging the blade with a purple colored reiatsu and both hands on the handle.

Kenpachi readied to defend himself and asked, "Who the hell are you, Hollow?"

"The time for conversation ends now." 'Kenkou' stopped charging the sword and flash stepped ten feet behind Kenpachi with his hand outstretched towards the missing sheath of Ikioi. After the scabbard zipped to 'Kenkou's' right hand, he sheathed the sword to only three inches from its end.

Kenpachi turned around to face 'Kenkou' and strike him, but Kenkou sheathed his sword decisively and blood gushed from multiple cuts, slashes, and lacerations all over Kenpachi's body. "What the hell…?" Kenpachi said, stunned as he fell to his knees.

"Hundred dancing blades: quick style. Kenkou worked on this technique with Commander Yamamoto for six months, but he was afraid to use in on you because of its devastation." 'Kenkou' turned around and now his mask covered the entire right side of his face and his jaw.

"What are you…?" Kenpachi said exhaustingly as he tried to anchor himself up with his sword.

"I don't know what I am, but what you will be is dead. Goodbye, Captain Kenpachi Zaraki." Kenkou threw his left palm out at Kenpachi and a red orb appeared in the center of his hand. The ball of energy grew in size and density as Kenkou held it before Kenpachi's face.

"We have to do something!" Momo screamed.

"What can we do? He's become a strong hollow and I don't even think we can take down together," Izuru said calmly.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see," Renji commented.

"How can we just sit by as a captain gets killed?!" Momo rebutted.

"Kenny will be fine, don't worry," Yachiru said in an optimistic tone as she looked on to the battle.

As Kenpachi looked deathly into the developing cero, he thought, _Is this how I'm going to end? How can this kid have such a monster inside of him? I'll just have to accept my fate…_

"_Enough,"_ Kenkou barked at the intruder from his mind.

'Kenkou' stopped with the cero and retreated back with his right arm, holding the zanpakutou in its sheath, flailing about as he screamed, "Leave me alone! I need to kill him!"

"_This was supposed to be a fight to the first one who passed out, not to the death. Now get out and let me finish this!"_

Kenkou's left hand grabbed the outside of the mask on its right side and he began to rip it off. "You were too weak! I'm stronger!"

"_Like hell you are! Now LEAVE!"_ Kenkou ripped the mask off and grunted in agony as the mask broke off into small, porcelain like pieces and Kenkou's eyes returned to normal. He panted heavily as he used the sheathed sword as a crutch. When Kenkou finally stood erect, the final pieces of his mask fell off of his face and when they hit the ground, they just disappeared, leaving no trace.

"What the hell…was that…?" Kenpachi panted as his blood continued to seep out from his wounds.

"I have no idea, but I'm gonna finish my fight with you, Kenpachi, fair and square." Kenkou pointed his left index finger at Kenpachi while he smiled. _The bleeding stopped. I guess I owe whatever that was a thank you if I see him again,_ Kenkou thought.

"Heh, well, I don't think we have much left in us to continue this fight. We'll decide this in one shot." Kenpachi lumbered to his feet and pointed his sword's tip at Kenkou.

"Agreed. We'll give it all we've got." Kenkou's body and sword glowed red as black and white energy exploded from his feet, blasting a wave of air out from his body.

"I like your style, Kenkou. This fight was the best I've ever had." Kenpachi's reiatsu rose once more and his yellow energy exploded from his body and in the air behind him, multiple yellow skulls came and went.

Kenkou could hear screaming, but could barely tell what the source was. He finally focused his hearing and could hear it come from Kenpachi's direction. _His zanpakutou screams in anguish. I guess because he doesn't even know its name. So sad, really…_ Kenkou drew his zanpakutou, slid the sheath into his obi on his right side and brought the katana to his left side, waist high.

Kenpachi grunted through his smile and ran at Kenkou, and Kenkou ran at Kenpachi with their energies still rushing out of them in a magnificent display of power. When they met, Kenpachi's sword came down and Kenkou's rose to block it. As the blades met, a giant ball of white energy enveloped them and as it exploded, it gave off bolts of yellow, red, black, and white energy that skewered the surrounding buildings.

When the light subsided and the smoke cleared, blood splattered everywhere with half of Kenpachi's sword stabbing the ground. Kenpachi looked down to see Kenkou facing the same direction he was, but Kenkou's zanpakutou was implanted in his stomach. "Great job kid, great job…" Before Kenpachi could fall, Kenkou withdrew the sword from under his right arm, spun around and came down with a mighty diagonal slash from his right, only to cut Kenpachi's chest, not to cut through it. As the blood splattered everywhere, Kenkou struck Kenpachi with an open palm, pushing him into some of the rubble that was left of the downed tower.

"Thank you for the birthday present, Kenpachi. If Captain Unohana can make it here within the next hour, I believe that you'll live to fight another day." Kenkou hurled the blood off his blade in one movement and sheathed the zanpakutou before he bowed at Kenpachi and flash stepped to the roof of the building that the four vice-captains were standing on.

"You may want to call Captain Retsu Unohana to heal him, otherwise he will die and you'll be left without a captain, little girl," Kenkou said in an all too calm voice as he faced the back of the four vice-captains.

Yachiru stood up, turned around and bowed deeply at Kenkou. "Thank you, Kenkou. Thank you for playing with Kenny. I really hope you play with him again real soon!"

Kenkou walked over to the bowing child, raised her head by placing his right index finger under her chin, and said, "You're welcome. I get the feeling I'll be fighting him soon anyway. Until then: see ya." Kenkou disappeared before them and Yachiru shortly after.

"What do you think we should do, guys?" Izuru asked as he looked down at the heavily injured captain.

"Let's try to clean him up before the Fourth Squad gets here," Momo answered.

"Good idea. We don't want any of the squads to be without a captain for too long," Renji added.

The all jumped down to the knocked out Kenpachi and dressed his wounds as best as they could with pieces of their shihakushos and reiatsu before Captain Unohana arrives…


	26. Depressing Defeat AND A New Mission!

Kenkou flash stepped to the expansive balcony of Yamamoto's office and proceeded to walk in the open doorway. "Master, could you please explain to me why Captain Zaraki tried to kill me?" He asked without bowing after he entered the office.

"What do you mean, Kenkou?" Yamamoto's head turned to his right as he sat at his desk filled with papers scattered about.

"Didn't you feel our powers screaming from the base of the Court of Penitence?!"

"I did feel a rumbling, but I didn't think it was much to worry about since your reiatsu was in the vicinity."

Kenkou clenched his right fist in anger as he kept a composed face. "Why weren't you worried about one of your captains getting into a fight? He could've been killed!"

"The captains are trained in all forms of combat, as were you, and are all very capable of handling any threat that comes their way. To doubt their skills would be dishonorable for both parties and dishonor the Soul Society's ways. As commander of these thirteen Court Guard Squads, I'd never tarnish anyone's honor!" Yamamoto yelled commandingly.

"I'm…I'm sorry, Master. I never meant it to come out like that. It's just that if the captain is meant to protect their squad from any great dangers, then you, as commander, would protect the captains from anything they couldn't truly handle." Kenkou looked down as uncertainty rolled over him.

"My apprentice, the captains are captains for a reason. Some were handpicked by me and others were chosen by their squads to represent them and after such elections are rigorously tested to see if they're good enough to be a captain." Yamamoto continued through the paper work as he lectured Kenkou.

"So to protect someone so mighty…"

"…would go against all the tradition that is the Soul Society, my apprentice."

"I see, Master. I'm deeply sorry for asking something of you that would disrespect all that you'd try to help if you did it. Please forgive me…

"Forgiveness is not needed, my apprentice," Yamamoto consoled as he pushed back the chair, stood up, and walked to Kenkou to rub the back of his head, "you just believe that those who have power must use it to protect those who don't, even if they have enough power on their own. I've taught you well, Kenkou."

"And I thank you for that, Master," Kenkou replied, smiling up at the commander

Yamamoto walked to the edge of his balcony and looked out at the setting sun of the cool February afternoon. The wind did not exist that day, even at such a high altitude as Yamamoto's office was perched many stories above the Seireitei. The few clouds lay stagnant around the sun, as to not touch it and none of them cast any seeable shadows in the viewable distance. "The weather is always beautiful this time of year…"

"Yes it is, Master."

"The winter is inert; motionless of life and void of anything of interest."

"But the dormancy hides the lifeless as it recharges for the spring; breathing new life into the world as everything rises from the ashes to flourish in the summer."

Yamamoto chuckled at Kenkou's wisdom for his own age was reflecting from this youth. "You're wiser than your age leads you to be. You have learned much from me in these six years and I believe my wisdom may have grown dull for repetition can only go so far."

"Master?" Kenkou walked to Yamamoto, who was still looking out to the horizon.

"I have a new mission for you: you are to learn as much as you can from the other twelve captains for one month each of the next year. From their education, I believe you can be more of a complete warrior and more of a complete person."

Kenkou eyes widened with pride before bowing deeply to his master and saying, "Thank you for this opportunity. But, who shall I go to first?" Kenkou shot up from his bow and stood at ease.

"That is for you to decide, my apprentice. Choose wisely who you'd like to learn from first. By this time next year, I'll have another mission for you. In order to obtain that next mission, you must learn what you can from each captain, for an education without variety cannot be called an education at all."

"I will do my best, but first I need to visit someone before I can begin my assignment."

"I know, my apprentice."

Kenkou flash stepped away, but not before bowing once more in thanks and respect to his master. Yamamoto walked back to his desk, sat down, and recommenced his paperwork. _Eleven and this controlled. He'll serve the Soul Society well…_

Kenkou materialized at the Fourth Squad's intensive care wing and knocked on Kenpachi's door. As he did so, Yachiru jumped in her seat and proclaimed, "Kenny, he's here!"

Kenkou slid the door open and bowed before entering. "May I come in?"

Kenpachi, bandaged from neck to toe and completely incapacitated, turned his head to Kenkou and replied, "Sure, but why're you here?"

"I came here to apologize for my actions earlier. I couldn't control myself." Kenkou proceeded through the doorway and closed it as he got in.

Kenpachi snickered at Kenkou's softness. "You've got a lot of guts apologizing for almost killing me. If I were you, I'd wait until I got better to really finish me off."

"But it's my fault that you're in here."

"You're weaker than your power shows you to be. To be so soft after a fight is unbecoming and you disgrace me with your sympathy." Kenpachi turned his head away from Kenkou in disgust.

"You're an integral part of the Soul Society. With you gone—"

"With me gone, there'd be someone to take my place. And that's just fine if they're stronger than I am."

Kenkou looked down and thought a bit before saying, "Then I'm sorry for not finishing you off. Commander Yamamoto has given me an assignment: I am to be an understudy of each captain for one month of the next year."

"Oh? And who've you chosen as your first selection?"

"I was going to choose you so we could fight for the next month, but I'd rather stick to my original plan: Captain Ukitake."

"Good choice; one of the old man's own students. But when you're ready to face me, I'll be nice and healed to take you on and finish our fight."

"You better be in the same condition as we met earlier so we can have a fair fight."

"Heh! That's what I like to hear! I'll teach you a healthy fighting spirit when it's my turn!"

"I'll look forward to that. I'll see you around. Kenpachi, Yachiru." Kenkou disappeared, leaving Kenpachi and Yachiru looking at each other.

"You gonna have fun with him Kenny?"

"Lots of fun Yachiru. He might even make me better somehow. We'll just have to wait and see, huh?"

Yachiru smiled widely, squinting her eyes as Kenpachi smirked whilst looking out his window at the darkening sky.

Kenkou appeared before the gate of the Thirteenth Squad and banged on it loudly. "Who goes there!?" The guard yelled from atop the tall gate.

Kenkou looked up and replied, "Kenkou Martinez, apprentice to Commander Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryuusai. I'm here on a special assignment from him."

Shock and astonishment surged through the guard as he took a large step back. _This kid again? I've learned my lesson…_ "Ok, come on in!" The gates opened to reveal the Thirteenth Squad's front garden, but the dead of winter hid the dormant life and all that had any sign of life was the barely green grass. Kenkou walked through the gate towards the Captain's office, since the only uniformity of all the complexes was that the Captain's quarters were in the center of each campus.

Kenkou strolled to the center of the campus, jumping from the roofs of the short, traditional Japanese buildings. He landed softly on bended knee grasping his sheathed sword that was still in his obi. As Kenkou rose to his feet, he noticed the captain's quarters were small and the building was no larger than his own room. The immediate surrounding area was filled with water and was reminiscent of a moat of medieval Europe, sans the drawbridge.

Upon placing his left foot onto the land bridge, two soul reapers appeared; each bending down before Kenkou. One was a short woman with short, boy like blonde hair. Her kimono came all the way to her neck and ended in a white, extravagant western-style collar around her neck. The soul reaper to her left was a tall man that had a strange hairstyle that was combed up and what looked to be a rope around his head. He had a goatee that came to a sharp point underneath his lower lip, though he didn't have a moustache.

"Who are you and why do you need an audience with Captain Juushiro Ukitake?!" The barked in unison.

"I'm Kenkou Martinez, apprentice to Commander Yamamoto and I have a mission directly from him: it's to train and learn under each captain for a month for the next year," Kenkou replied, bowing to them.

"Someone to have been trained under the commander himself should have some prestige, yet we don't know who you are. How can we believe that you're who you say you are?" The dark-haired, male soul reaper shot back.

"I guess you can take my word for it. I don't have any proof that I've been training under the commander," Kenkou replied as he stood back up.

"For all we know you can be an intruder who wants to take advantage of our beloved captain!" The short woman said.

"Now wait a minute, why're you implying that our captain can't defend himself?!" The man turned to his right and yelled at his counterpart.

"Because he's sick right now and I just want to make sure that it's the best for Captain Ukitake!"

"If anyone should be looking out for our most honorable captain, it's me!"

"Oh yeah?! You're nothing but a blundering dunderhead!"

"What's that you crybaby pipsqueak?!"

Kenkou watched on as the argument progressed about who respected Ukitake more, but the more he stood there, the more he realized that his time was running out for the day. He then stepped between them and shoved them to either side of each other. But in doing so, he didn't pull back and caused the girl to crash into the inner wall of the captain's compound and the man into the main home of the captain. "Enough you two! I get it, you're worried about Captain Ukitake, but I'm only here to learn from him, nothing else," Kenkou bellowed as he looked at both soul reapers.

The two soul reapers got up, flash stepped before Kenkou to their original spots, and deeply bowed as they each took a knee on the ground. "We're very sorry for this! We should've trusted you from the start. Accept our apology!" the two begged together.

Kenkou bowed back and said, "Apology accepted, but only if you tell me your names."

The young woman got up and said, "I'm Kiyone Kotetsu, third seat of the Thirteenth Squad!"

"And I'm Sentarou Kotsubaki, also third seat of Squad Thirteen," he said as he rose to his feet.

"I'm pleased to meet the both of you." Kenkou bowed once more before the co-third seats. "May I now enter?"

"Yes, you may," the officers said in unison, opening and showing the way to Kenkou.

As he laid his bright red, sheathed katana on the floor just after the steps of the small house, he smelled incense and thought, _Dragon's blood? How's this supposed to calm anyone down? Must be his favorite scent._ Kenkou slid the door open abruptly and saw the captain lying on a Japanese style futon with his eyes closed, a white wash cloth on his forehead with candles flickering on a shrine behind him. The captain was tall, though the covers didn't reveal it, and he had long, white hair and fair skin. Kenkou looked upon Ukitake's face and though he looked to be sleeping, he showed his pain as his eyebrows were scrunched towards his nose. _He's a captain? But…he's just so frail. No. To deny that he's a captain would dishonor his accomplishments._ "Captain Ukitake? Are you awake?"

After shifting his eyes open, he spoke, but only softly. "Yes, I'm awake. Come closer if you can't hear me."

Kenkou stepped closer to Ukitake and kneeled before him with both knees on the ground. "Hey, Captain, how're you feeling?" Kenkou said with concern in his voice.

"I'm doing well, considering my condition. How're you, child?"

"I'm perfect, at least compared to you." Kenkou smiled to make light of the situation.

"That's good to hear. Before we continue our conversation, tell my third seats that if they're gonna argue outside this place, to be quiet next time." Ukitake smiled.

Kenkou turned his torso behind him and said, "You two. Your captain said to keep it down next time you two decide to argue around here."

The two third seats froze with fear at the captain's request. "Yes, sir…" They both walked off towards another part of the compound to completed their work for the day.

"It's getting late, child, why're you here?" Ukitake asked in a near whisper.

"You see, Commander Yamamoto gave me a mission: to learn from each of the other captains for one month each of the next year. I chose you as the first since he told me you were once one of his students."

"I see. And what is your relationship with my old teacher?"

"He's my master. I'm training directly under him and I've learned everything I know about fighting and how to handle most situations."

"So all of this near non-stop fighting on the top of Sougyoku Hill has been you two? I sensed the commander's reiatsu, but yours was quite unfamiliar. Human at its base, soul reaper overtones, and something strange as an undertone; it was really strange to be feeling that against my old teacher's reiatsu."

"He's taught me a lot in six years and I thank him a lot, but now he believes that if I take all of my education from him, it'll become stagnant in nature and I won't really grow as a person or a fighter. So, now I come to you first. Do you agree to be my temporary master?"

Ukitake coughed harshly for a moment, cleared his throat and said, "I'd be delighted to teach you, erm, what was your name?"

"I'm sorry, where are my manners. My name is Kenkou Martinez. It's a pleasure to meet and train under you."

"Now I remember. You were here with Vice-Captain Abarai looking for Rukia Kuchiki. Thank you for selecting me as your first teacher, Kenkou."

Kenkou bowed on his knees and said, "Well, I must be going now. It's nearly dinner time at my home in the world of the living. I'll be back here as soon as I can after school tomorrow."

Ukitake was shocked that the boy admitted that is was human, though in an implied manner, and said, "I'll see you tomorrow then."

Kenkou got up, slid the door closed as he exited, picked up his sword and flashed stepped his way to the main Senkai Gate and made his way home. _I sure hope he's better tomorrow. It'd be kind of a drag to just sit inside a stuffy house like that._

_So, he is human. And he's strong enough to fight on level with Yamamoto? And if I'm not mistaken, he also defeated Captain Zaraki of Squad Eleven. What are you getting me into, sensei? Are you testing me though I'm not your student any longer? No matter. The only thing I can do is get healthy._ Ukitake coughed into the air once more and closed his eyes for some much needed rest.


	27. Sensei Kyouraku

**March 2000**

Thirty days of education. Thirty days of battle. Thirty days, and then: completion. The month spent with Captain Ukitake changed Kenkou; not radically, but changed him. The diamond has now become more polished.

"Today is the last day of your training and I have nothing left to teach you. You've passed all of my written and physical exams and you are ready to learn under another captain."

The sun engulfed the Soul Society in a warmth that was quite missed and the signs of spring sprouted from the agriculture that surrounded the vast courtyard that Kenkou and Juushiro sat in.

"Thank you for all your time, Captain. I'm very grateful of the knowledge that you've given to me." Kenkou smiled at the captain as his third seat officers sat beside him.

"It's no trouble at all. If you ever require any guidance, come and see me. I'll more than help you in your troubles." Ukitake smiled back at his student.

"We were glad to assist in Kenkou's studies!" Kiyone and Sentarou said in unison.

"Oh, and I'm glad I could have some three on one matches against you all. Well, I'll be going now. Thanks again!" Kenkou got up, bowed, and flash stepped away to his master's office.

"Do you really think he learned well, Captain?" Kiyone inquired.

"Of course he learned! It's our beloved captain!" Sentarou barked back.

"I knew he had to have learned from the wise Captain Juushiro Ukitake, but I wanted the his input!" Kiyone snapped.

"It's fine, you two. I think he's learned more from me in this past month than he's learned in one year with my previous sensei. He was really interested in my teachings."

Kiyone and Sentarou nodded in agreement and went off to file any paperwork needed. _Good luck on your travels, young one_, Ukitake thought.

Kenkou appeared on the large balcony of Yamamoto's office in a kneeled, bowing position. "Has it been a month already, my apprentice?"

"Yes, Master, it has. I've finished my studies with Captain Ukitake and I've learned much in studying under him," Kenkou replied, getting up and walking to Yamamoto at his desk.

"What have you learned then?"

"Well, I've learned that personal justice can be as important, maybe more important, than the justice of the world, but to keep the justice of the world in mind in my decisions." Kenkou sat down in one of the chairs facing Yamamoto's desk.

"And?" Yamamoto continued to go through his paperwork as Kenkou sat down.

"I also learned how to take on three opponents at the same time successfully. Captain Ukitake's third seats helped with that."

"Very good, anything else?

"Nothing else, really. He was your student so most of your teachings echoed through him."

"I see. Who is your next choice?"

"I was thinking about your other student, Shunsui Kyouraku: captain of the Eighth Squad."

"Very good choice. He's actually more adept at battle than Juushiro and his personality greatly differs from the training I gave him, but he's one of the most trusted captains."

"Thank you, Master. Shall I report back every time I finish with a captain?"

"That would be best. You are my apprentice and I'd like to know how you're improving each month."

"Yes, Master. I'll be going now. See you next month," Kenkou said as he got up from his desk and flash stepped away.

_I didn't think a month would be enough for him, but he's learning quickly._

Kenkou appeared at the door of the vice-captain's office of the Fifth Squad and knocked on it. After no answer, Kenkou slid open the door and walked in on Momo sleeping at her desk. _Overworked, huh? I've heard of the Fifth Squad being rather busy lately._Kenkou proceeded to walk in silently and approached the desk from his left. _She's so pretty when she sleeps… I should leave a note_, Kenkou thought as he searched for a blank sheet of paper and a writing utensil.

He quietly stumbled upon the paper he was looking for underneath other forms on the right of the desk and a pen that was just under it. He quickly jotted the note on the piece of paper and folded it in a tent in front of the snoozing Momo. Kenkou took the first two fingers of his left hand and brushed back Momo's hair behind her right ear and gently kissed her on her temple before silently leaving the room. _I'm glad I didn't disturb her, now: on to Kyouraku._

Kenkou flash stepped to a large, stone tiled arena and looked upon the building in the middle of a wall with the Court of Penitence in its backdrop. _This is supposed to be the captain's main quarters of this campus? Seems rather alienated, but Kyouraku is one of the oldest captains…_Kenkou walked to the two-story building and was interrupted by a soul reaper with glasses and a giant book under her right arm, flash stepping in front of him. Kenkou took a few steps back as he was startled and said, "What's with everyone trying to spook me when I approach a captain? Who're you?"

"I'm Ise Nanao, vice-captain of Squad Eight. Who're you, boy?" Ise was of average height for a woman, but her glasses and tightly controlled hair was almost scary to any youth as it would remind you of a tough grade school teacher.

"I'm Kenkou Martinez, apprentice to Commander Yamamoto. I'm here to speak to your captain about some training," Kenkou replied in a bow.

"Training? No one's ever trained under any captain before, so why should I believe you?" she asked as she looked down on Kenkou.

"Because it's the truth. Commander Yamamoto gave me a mission: train under each of the other captains to expand my education of the martial arts and of my own thinking. Could you please direct me to your captain?"

"If you truly are Commander Yamamoto's apprentice, I'd like to test your kidou skills. How about a 'friendly' match?"

"I do like to fight a bit, so it's fine with me." Kenkou jumped back and laid his katana on the ground. "You first, Vice-Captain Nanao," Kenkou said in a courteous bow.

Still holding the book in her right arm, she faced her left side out to Kenkou with her palm facing him and her thumb tucked. Energy began to gather within her palm, but it didn't physically manifest itself just yet as small bolts of yellow electricity sparked erratically around her. _Which move was this one…? The style's unfamiliar, but I recognize the reiatsu pattern…_ "Bone of a straggling beast," Nanao began and the electricity began focusing towards her hand.

_An incantation?! She must really be trying to get rid of me. No matter, I think I can handle this._Kenkou readied himself by facing the right side of his body towards Nanao, extending both arms to their respective sides and facing the palms out with cocked thumbs like Nanao did before. He also got into a deep horse stance and exhaled deeply as he gathered his own reiatsu into his body.

"Spire, crimson crystal, disc of steel, when the wind shifts, and the emptiness ceases, let the clash of lances resonate through the relinquished castle! Hadou sixty-three: raikouhou!" A ball of yellow energy gathered itself in her palm to the size of a basketball and screamed out of her hand in a streak of yellow lightning, tearing up the ground that it shot across as stray bolts lacerated the ground.

"Level sixty?!" Kenkou halted the blast with his right hand and it grew massive compared to its original size, but his hand began to waver slightly and to show his dominance, he shifted his body so both hands grasped the shot of kidou. As he held the blast in its place, stray shots of reiatsu tore through the arena and one thick streak ripped up through the lone building, throwing debris everywhere.

A soul reaper lay on the roof napping through the whole ordeal, but was woken up when a piece of the roof flew up and knocked away his wide, rice patty hat. "What's Nanao doing to wake me up," he asked himself as he got up and rubbed his eyes.

As he opened his eyes, his blurry eyes saw an erratic sphere of yellow energy the size of a four-door sedan remaining still and it seemed to push slightly. He rubbed his eyes again and everything was perfectly in focus. Nanao was watching someone hold her spell still with an open jaw, but the napping soul reaper didn't recognize the child that was holding the impressive spell with relative ease.

"That child's impressive to hold one of Little Nanao's kidou spells. And this is hadou sixty-three, so it's a high ranking move and quite powerful," he observed. He jumped down to the arena floor and as he landed, he was greeted by another strike of lightning, this one screaming horizontally across the wall that was adjacent to the building he jumped off of. "She must've used the incantation for it to cause this much area damage…"

Kenkou clenched the ball of energy and smirked slightly as he put less pressure against it. "Nice work, Vice-Captain Nanao, really it is! But I have a better move that'll trounce this one!" Kenkou shouted against the roaring of the raikouhou.

A puzzled look came over Nanao, but she readied herself for whatever was to come. _Ok, Kenkou, let's see what you've got._

"Alright, hadou seventy-eight!" Kenkou reached back his left hand above his head and a softball size of white energy formed in his hand as he held Nanao's blast with his right. "ENERGY BEAM!!" Kenkou threw his left hand against the yellow energy and he shot straight through it and caused it to dissipate. The beam widened to the size of a train after cancelling Nanao's spell and it tore through the arena as it shrieked towards the vice-captain.

_That's not hadou seventy-eight! I can't dodge it!_Nanao thought as the massive beam barreled to her. Nanao looked away from the blast as it seemed to engulf her and obliterate everything in its path.

Kenkou then twisted the beam into the sky, while using his right hand to grab his left forearm, and the blast bent upward. When it was around one thousand feet into the air, Kenkou turned his left hand over and clenched it tightly into a fist and his attack exploded brilliantly in the sunny, mid-day sky.

Kenkou moved his hands palm down in front of him, parallel to his collar bone, and exhaled deeply as they sank to his waistline. He then picked up his zanpakutou and placed it back in his obi and said, "You're pretty fast, old man. Have you been watching this entire time?"

As the smoke and light rubble settled, the napping soul reaper held Nanao close to him as she clenched her eyes closed. His hair was in a ponytail that was held by a blue piece of cloth with small, pink flowers standing out from inside the tie. Over his uniform shihakusho, he had on a captain's coat and on top of that was a small, pink overcoat with a flower pattern on it. He also had a light beard that dotted his sharp jaw line and slightly pointed chin. "My my, that was quite impressive, child. Where did you learn that strange spell?"

"My master, Commander Yamamoto, taught me. He had to teach me the original destructive spells from more than ten thousand years ago. I take it you're a captain? Of which squad?"

"My, you do take in everything, don't you? I'm Shunsui Kyouraku, captain of Squad Eight, nice to meet you."

Kenkou bowed to the captain and replied, "I'm Kenkou Martinez and I'd like to train under you for the next month, sir."

"Wow, no one's ever asked that of, well, anyone. We do have an academy you can attend, but since you say you've trained under my old teacher, I'll teach you what I can for the next month. Only under one condition though."

Kenkou rose from his bow and asked, "What's that, sensei?"

"Heh, I kinda like the sound of that. Well, as I see it, you owe my little Nanao here an explanation or an apology for the thrashing you nearly gave her." Nanao looked up at her captain as if to say 'you don't have to do that'.

"Oh? She's your wife?"

Kyouraku smiled as Nanao broke from his grasp and nearly boiled over with anger as she pushed up the bridge of her glasses. "No, she's not my wife. She's my vice-captain. I just call her 'my little Nanao' 'cause it's my nickname for her."

"I see. Well, Nanao I'm sorry I attacked you so violently. I learned from Yamamoto that if I'm to attack anyone, attack to kill and don't hold back. If you hold back at the wrong time, it could come back to you later. I'm sorry I almost killed you; it won't happen again." Kenkou bowed once more.

"It's fine, Kenkou, we were fighting and you did what you thought was best," Nanao replied.

Kenkou then remembered what Kenpachi told him about battle. _"Don't apologize for nearly killing me. You show your weakness when you apologize for something like that!"_ "I'm not sorry for not killing you. I'm sorry for not ending you sooner."

Shock came over Nanao and Kyouraku at hearing this and after a moment, Kyouraku asked, "Have you spoken to Captain Zaraki?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Hm. I think I'll teach you humanity outside of battle. But before any of your other training begins, I think it'd be best if you fix my arena." Kyouraku smiled at Kenkou.

Kenkou looked at the vast amount of damage he created with Nanao and exhaled deeply with his head down. "Alright, where are the supplies…"

"No supplies. Use your reiatsu to mend all this. They were made with spirit particles, y'know."

"Yes, sir…" Kenkou agreed reluctantly.


End file.
